Opinion

Commentary
Will Apple Become The American Express of Mobile Payments?
June 02, 2014

Today is the day that we might actually get a peek into Apple’s playbook on mobile payments. Get the Full Story Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required. yesSubscribe to our...

Alternative Finances
The Great Bitcoin Debate In Six Points
May 30, 2014

Last Friday PYMNTS ran a short article by me that made the pretty simple and accurate point that Overstock.com receives dollars when people use their Coinbase wallet to send bitcoins. Little did I know the firestorm I would start. Patrick Byrne, Overstock’s CEO, was not...

Alternative Finances
Overstock CEO’s Angry Response on Taking Bitcoin
May 27, 2014

It looks like I poked the hornets’ nest and awakened the slumbering bear at the same time with my article last Friday about Overstock not really taking bitcoin. The hysterical reaction is puzzling since the point of my article is simple and no one, including...

Commentary
Is the EMV Journey Worth the Price?
May 19, 2014

Several reports surfaced last week that reaffirmed what we’ve all suspected – rolling out EMV in the US is going to be a long slog that will optimistically take 5 years but more likely 10 to complete. That got MPD CEO Karen Webster to thinking,...

Commentary
Alibaba: The Other 550M Gorilla in Payments
May 12, 2014

While everyone in payments has been focused on another player out west whose name begins with an “A” no one has really paid much attention to the other one even father west with even greater payments and commerce ambitions. MPD CEO Karen Webster gives you...

Commentary
PYMNTS Flashback: Alibaba And ShopRunner Say “Open Sesame” To Digital Commerce
May 08, 2014

Everybody knows the ancient story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. “Open Sesame” were the magic words that opened a cave where Ali Baba saw an abundance of gold treasure stolen by 40 thieves stashed inside. Ali Baba, assisted by his very capable female...

Commentary
The Payments Networks’ Next Real Threat
May 05, 2014

What begins with an 'A' and is the biggest threat to the payments networks since Judge Leon? ACH. I know, you thought we were going to say Apple. But the Paym launch in the UK got MPD CEO Karen Webster to thinking about the impact...

Digital Currency Deep Dive: So What Makes Bitcoin So Special?
April 23, 2014

Remember the day when a coin was just a bothersome piece of metal that you were happy to toss in the tip jar to benefit the underpaid baristas at your local coffee shop? Well, the world has changed and so have coins. Economist David Evans...

Commentary
Fed’s Mobile Use Numbers—That Was Then, This is Now
April 16, 2014

The Fed issued its update recently on the state of the mobile US landscape two years after its Mobile Payments Industry Workgroup (MPIW) convened to provide guidance on how to move the mobile industry forward. I have read the report several times and so wanted...