POS and Retail

EMVCo, the major card brand-supported venture to establish EMV guidelines and specifications, has begun testing a program to determine if consumer mobile devices can securely accept contactless payments — a move that not only hastens the adoption of contactless payments, but renews criticism over which networks control technology and routing decisions.

The Interac debit network is expanding online and in-store options for Walmart customers throughout Canada, looking to have new technology in place by spring of 2021.

Michael Moeser, Senior Analyst at PaymentsSource, talks to Ginger Siegel, North America Small Business Lead at Mastercard, about how smaller shops are managing through the coronavirus pandemic.

It's not just payment habits that are changing, but the very nature of what people are willing to buy one another.

Michael Moeser, senior analyst at PaymentsSource, talks to Chris Lybeer, chief strategy officer at Revel, about the trends driving digital payments in the restaurant industry.

Small and midsize merchants in North America continue to struggle with the effects of COVID-19 on their bottom lines, but those who have developed an online presence and made changes to in-store payments have found the process to be a vital step.

Several large mobile point of sale projects are hitting the market at once to reach financially troubled retailers, with JPMorgan Chase making use of a three-year-old acquisition to push back against the technology firms that have been gobbling up small-business clients.

As merchants and consumers increasingly favor contactless payments over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, Visa is removing obstacles to contactless acceptance.

MagicCube’s i-Accept is a hardware-free option for accepting card and electronic payments that could appeal to cost-conscious small businesses and open up a new market for banks that provide them payments services.

Online fraud typically spikes when holiday shopping begins in November, but so-called friendly fraud poses another big threat this year with the pandemic pushing more consumers — and inexperienced merchants — to online sales channels.

Online fraud typically spikes when holiday shopping begins in November, but so-called friendly fraud poses another big threat this year with the pandemic pushing more consumers — and inexperienced merchants — to online sales channels.

MagicCube has launched i-Accept, a software-based replacement for traditional terminals, allowing acquiring banks and financial services providers to offer merchants an option for contactless and PIN payment acceptance through Android devices.

Amid the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic, many companies are taking a chance on innovative new technologies to keep their customers engaged.

Drive-thru is almost synonymous with fast food, but for some quick-serve chains — like Subway — a past emphasis on in-store dining meant a much sharper pivot when the coronavirus pandemic struck.

Even continues its expansion into the health care vertical with the signing.

Riding a technology wave that helps attract more customers and generate more revenue sounds appealing enough — but with contactless payments, there isn't always a clear upgrade path for stores that have relied on older terminals.

EMV specifications body EMVCo has started a pilot program to evaluate consumer mobile devices for contactless payment acceptance, enabling vendors to have smartphones and tablets evaluated for possible use by merchants to accept payments without attached card readers.

Connected devices have become a popular way for retailers to mitigate human contact, turning forward-looking projects into near-term necessities. To keep this transition on track, NCR is using Microsoft's cloud.

With travel spending still largely sidelined by the coronavirus pandemic, Amazon is looking to harness more of the spending that small and medium-sized businesses are focused on for recovery.

Longtime finance entrepreneur Jackie Reses, who led Square Capital for the last five years, is leaving the company at the end of the month. Square has not yet named a successor.