POS and Retail

The recent explosion of online shopping tools pointing users to the lowest prices for items — particularly on Amazon — appears to be making the e-commerce giant nervous.

A strong economy in 2020 could lift the small-business card market, which is an important source of lending and payments for entrepreneurs and local merchants.

Banks can remain competitive in a more crowded field by offering attractive rewards through easy-to-navigate, secure microsites, says Informa Financial Intelligence's Gina DeCorla.

Oklahoma lawmakers' decision last month to drop the state's surcharging ban was yet another signal that U.S. merchants have the final say in whether to apply extra charges to credit card transactions to offset interchange fees.

Though many merchants remain wary of alienating their customers with fees, others now see an opportunity to recoup the growing costs associated with accepting plastic.

Payments security firm MyPINpad has received certification from the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council for its software-based PIN entry on Apple mobile and tablet devices.

Most banks already have the means to communicate directly with customers, in the form of a mobile banking app or email. It’s just a matter of putting those channels to good use. Targeted discounts and perks reduce shopping costs, and therefore customers’ stress, says Flybits' Justine Melman.

Akin to the democratization of computing power through personal computers, the growing use of AI will continue to fuel new products and services in payments and have a significant impact on society. But AI will also introduce tremendous challenges due to its potential use by threat actors, says Visa's Paul Fabara.

The economic outlook for the next year has been a moving target, but business payment companies fear that certain organizations are losing patience with the speed of transactions.

Traditional phishing attacks on email are easier for most users to spot, causing crooks to migrate to new venues, argues The ai Corporation's James Crawshaw.