Behind all the buzz about social payments and virtual currency is an often-overlooked fact: few social-network members today actually use digital money. The antidote for this ailment, according to executives in the social-networking world, is something they call monetization, which is simply a term for tactics that generate revenues from …

Mocapay Inc., one of the earliest startups in the mobile-payments space, finally is poised to go national with new partners, a different pricing model, and a broadened set of technological options that its president says makes payments by smart phone easier for merchants and consumers. Mocapay launched in 2006 and …

Google Inc. late on Tuesday announced a solution for a security flaw in its mobile wallet that allows hackers to gain access to wallet owners’ prepaid accounts. Google also said it had, on Monday afternoon, restored the ability to load funds on new prepaid cards. In response to the flaw, …

With both Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. now on the record with plans to encourage the adoption of EMV chip card and mobile payments in the U.S, it seems all but certain that the magnetic-stripe payment card’s days are numbered. In fact, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. already is seeing some EMV …

While acknowledging that federal pricing regulations are crimping growth in its debit card business, Visa Inc. late on Wednesday presented an upbeat report to investors that stressed new ventures like its recently introduced digital wallet, V.me. Separately, the world’s largest card network also unveiled new tools to help client banks …

Visa Inc. reported on Monday that its U.S. financial-institution clients have issued more than 1 million chip cards compliant with the EMV standard. The leading payment card network also introduced new EMV processing services so that issuers can reduce their own investments in chip technology. Just over 10 issuers now …

  Leading payment processor First Data Corp. reported on Wednesday that its merchant-acquiring operations are enjoying a temporary profit lift and its Star electronic funds transfer network has won more than 20 new contracts from financial institutions as a result of the Durbin Amendment. But whether those new contracts actually …

All eyes in the payments business these days are on mobile, especially on the potential smart phones have to change the way people shop for stuff and then pay for it in physical stores. So when talk turns to mobile payments in this context, it usually refers to a technology …

Virtual Currencies: Bust-Out Ahead? Witness the recent travails of the euro if you want proof of how hard it is for any new currency, even a physical currency backed by multiple governments, to attain and retain widespread usage and acceptance. The obstacles blocking the new breed of electronic currencies from …

The news is grim, and getting grimmer, for consumers, banks, and traders everywhere. The most fortified cyber fortresses are being overrun by wily hackers worldwide, ranging from lone wolves to state-sponsored data thieves motivated by misplaced playfulness, greed, or some fanatic faith in a moral imperative. Most victims are not …