payments

The next iPhone could let users buy products and share files through near field communication.

Code pulled from Pre-EVT (Engineering Verification Testing) iPhone 5,1 and iPhone 5,2 prototypes by 9to5Mac leads the Apple enthusiast site to believe that NFC chips and an antenna will be built into this year's iPhone.

If true, it means Apple would finally jump onto the mobile payments bandwagon, allowing its users to purchase goods and services directly through their smartphones. This latest rumor also comes on top of the company's launch of Passbook, a feature slated for iOS 6 that would … Read more

Facebook made a simple announcement today -- its virtual currency, "credits," is to become real currency, such as dollars, pounds, or rupees. Despite this being a seemingly straightforward notice, a lot can be read into this plan.

It points to the social network looking for additional ways to make money besides advertising and it shows the company's goal to grow as a payment platform embarking on a similar path to Apple with its iTunes store.

The idea of Facebook credits were first debuted in 2008 when the social network changed the monetary units for its "gifts&… Read more

PayPal's clunky Web site is about to get sleeker and more user-friendly. According to TechCrunch, the online payment company is revamping its Web site to make it more orderly and have fewer navigation bars and tab options. Now, there will be just three tabs: buy, sell, and transfer.

"We are always creating new ways to use your PayPal account," screenshots of the new Web site say. "Explore some innovations that could make your life a little easier."

PayPal told TechCrunch that the company will announce more details on the redesign tomorrow. For now, it's … Read more

Samsung may present its new TecTiles near-field communications (NFC) stickers-and-app combo as a campaign for consumers to do more with their phones, but in the long run, Samsung hopes for much more.

The electronics-maker told CNET that TecTiles should ultimately help serve Samsung its slice of the mobile payments pie. Its TecTiles app lets you program an NFC sticker to do various things when you tap a compatible phone to it, like turn on or off certain phone settings, or check in to a location on your social networks.

Yet, NFC, a technology that uses short-range communication similar to Bluetooth, … Read more

Credit card processor Global Payments said today that in the course of investigating the theft of 1.5 million credit card numbers, it has discovered that hackers may also have stolen consumer data from servers.

"Our ongoing investigation recently revealed potential unauthorized access to personal information collected from a subset of merchant applicants," the company said in a statement on its Web site.

"It is unclear whether the intruders looked at or took any personal information from the company's systems; however, the company will notify potentially-affected individuals in the coming days with helpful information and make … Read more

Sprint is working on a mobile-payment service that could take on Google Wallet and countless other competitors in the marketplace, according to a new report.

Android Central yesterday posted two images it claims show how Sprint's mobile-payment service will work. Based on the images in the slides, the service will force users to enter a pass code to access their wallet, input information, and make payments. In addition to credit card support, the images seem to indicate that the service, called Touch Wallet, according to Android Central, will support "loyalty cards."

Android Central's report comes just … Read more

In what would likely be a setback for Google, Sprint is reportedly planning to launch its own mobile wallet as early as this summer.

The near-field communications (NFC) effort will be called "Touch," sources tell NFC Times. One of the advantages to the carrier creating its own mobile wallet is the opportunity to build relationships with banks and other service providers, something Google Wallet does not allow, the sources noted.

"The limitation isn't the wallet; the limitation is the secure element," a source at Sprint told NFC Times, adding that the Sprint wallet offers a &… Read more

Facebook began rolling out a new mobile payments system today that reduces the number of steps users must take to complete a purchase from seven to two.

The "low-friction carrier billing" is available to the majority of wireless carriers in the U.S. and U.K. as well as in more than 60 countries around the world, Facebook said today in a developer blog announcing the new system. While U.S. carriers AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile are already on board with the system, one of the notable names not on the list is Verizon's.

"… Read more

In a bid to further integrate cloud-based platforms with its more conventional offerings, Intuit said yesterday that it plans to combine QuickBooks Point of Sale, its offering for retailers, with its 3-year-old mobile-only GoPayment platform.

If you're unfamiliar with GoPayment, it's a service that allows small and medium-sized vendors to process debit or credit cards using an Apple iPhone -- no proprietary point-of-sale hardware necessary. The app and hardware are free, and Intuit makes its money from transactions (2.7 percent per swipe) or a monthly membership fee ($12.95/mo.) of sorts.

It's the kind of … Read more