payments

The partnership between Starbucks and Square may accomplish what even tech giant Google hasn't been able to pull off: taking mobile payments into the mainstream.

With Starbucks, Square has a large and visible pulpit from which to tout its fledgling "pay with Square" mobile payment service. Best known for its small mag-stripe reader and ability to quickly handle transactions for small businesses, the company is pushing to get consumers to use Square as a digital wallet.

"The ubiquitous nature of Starbucks' national footprint can do a lot to raise awareness," Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said … Read more

Mobile payments startup Square has formed an extensive partnership with Starbucks that includes a $25 million investment from the coffeehouse giant.

Under the terms of the deal announced this evening, Square will process credit and debit card transactions at U.S. stores. Also, Starbucks customers will be able to make purchases with Pay with Square -- Square's payer app -- at Starbucks locations later this fall.

In addition to investing $25 million in Square's fourth round of funding, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz will join Square's board of directors. In June 2011, the company raised $100 million in … Read more

One of the many drawbacks to using Google Wallet as a true wallet replacement was the inability to add a Visa, American Express, or Discover card as a payment option. You were either limited to using a prepaid card Google provided you with, adding money to it each time you wanted to use it. Or, you had to own a MasterCard.

But, with the update Google just released, users can now add any debit or credit card to their Google Wallet account, and use it to make purchases with their NFC equipped Android device.

The update takes all of the … Read more

Isis, a joint venture among Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and T-Mobile USA, will likely start trials of its mobile-payment service in August, according to a person familiar with the launch plans.

The August target, however, isn't set in stone. CNET has gotten indications elsewhere that the timing may change. A representative for Isis only said the service would begin trials in Salt Lake City and Austin, Texas, this summer, pushed back from the prior forecast of a mid-year launch.

Isis will join Google Wallet in its attempt to get people to start paying at cash registers with their … Read more

PayPal announced today it has agreed to acquire Card.io, a company whose technology allows credit card information to be captured by a smartphone's camera.

Terms of the deal were not announced.

The acquisition is an apparent move to bolster its position against mobile-payments upstart Square, which revealed in March that it was processing $4 billion a year in payments. Square, which recently announced plans for international expansion, also offers an accessory that connects to mobile devices and lets people swipe their cards to pay for purchases.

The San Francisco-based startup attracted PayPal's interest when the two companies … Read more

Square, the mobile-payments startup that has made a big splash around the U.S., is looking to go overseas.

The company's chief executive, Jack Dorsey, told reporters yesterday at the Allen & Co. media conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, that Square is "going outside the U.S. soon." According to Bloomberg, which was first to report on the news, Dorsey didn't say where his company would be expanding. He also wouldn't say when it would happen.

Even without help from international efforts, Square has been growing quite rapidly and announced in March that it was … Read more

Kickstarter announced today that millions more people will soon be allowed to launch projects through its crowd-source funding platform.

The company broadcast the news via Twitter saying, "People in the UK will be able to launch projects on Kickstarter starting this autumn! More info soon!"

So far, only people in the U.S. can create projects and solicit funding on Kickstarter. The reason for this, according to The Verge, which first reported this news, is that the U.S. was the only place where Amazon Payments was offered -- the platform Kickstarter uses. However, as of March 2011, … Read more

Financial services giant MasterCard and mobile carrier Deutsche Telekom announced this morning that they would partner to accelerate adoption of mobile payments, which allow consumers to use their mobile phones to pay for goods and services.

MasterCard sees business opportunity in Deutsche Telekom's 93 million mobile customers in Europe.

The companies plan to begin in Poland and Germany, Deutsche Telekom's home country. The effort will begin with mobile phone tags and cards, with a "mobile wallet" service to follow. (The mobile wallet will be open to MasterCard's partners, such as banks and other financial institutions.)… Read more

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