Gyft Brings Mobile, Social Elements To Gift Card Industry
November 26, 2012

Over $60 billion could be spent on gift cards this holiday season and startup Gyft is hoping to cash in with its iPhone app that lets users buy, store and redeem their gift cards in one place. PYMNTS.com spoke with CJ MacDonald, co-founder of Gyft,...

Qriket: Giving You A Reason To Scan QR Codes
November 26, 2012

Why scan a QR code for a product, brand or service in which you have no interest? Because if you have Qriket, you might just win yourself some cash. The new iOS app is changing the way consumers and QR codes interact, and merchants should...

Fighting Financial Exclusivity: What Role Does The Government Play?
November 26, 2012

If the billions of financially underserved around the world are to be helped, leading minds from the private, government, academic and non-profit sectors will need to collaborate on possible solutions. PYMNTS.com spoke with Kabir Kumar, microfinance specialist at CGAP, an organization focused on fostering those...

Poland: Europe’s NFC Champion
November 26, 2012

MasterCard has recently partnered with T-Mobile and Orange in Poland to launch contactless mobile payments in the country. T-Mobile and MasterCard announced they will offer customers mobile payments based on NFC technology from 29 October 2012 in Poland. The offer will be launched with four...

Smartphones Influence This Year’s Christmas Shopping
November 26, 2012

£3.5bn of Christmas retail sales will be purchased on or influenced by smartphones, according to business advisory firm Deloitte. The influence of smartphones far outweighs the value of direct sales made through them, with consumers using their device to research prices, store Christmas shopping lists,...

UK Government Fosters M-Commerce Security Innovation
November 26, 2012

A British public body has created a competition to foster innovation in the field of mobile commerce and payments security. The Technology Strategy Board is a business-led executive non-departmental public body, established by the Government. Its role is to promote and support research into, and...

People-Centered Payments: How TSYS Views Innovation
November 26, 2012

As TSYS’ new Director of Innovation, Chris Colson must answer some difficult questions: how can payments be innovated to the benefit of not just TSYS, but to consumers and society as a whole as well? How can TSYS’ mantra of “people-centered payments” impact the industry...

MasterCard’s Walt Macnee: We’re Better Than Cash
November 26, 2012

Financial inclusivity is an enormously important issue both in the U.S. and abroad, with the World Bank estimating that a stunning 2.5 billion adults lack access to traditional financial services. At MasterCard’s Cashless Conversation on November 13, leaders from the financial, non-profit and academic worlds...

Black Friday By The Numbers: Mobile Traffic Grows More Than 67%
November 25, 2012

Another Black Friday is in the books and IBM has the latest online retail performance data. The data shows that 2012 marked a banner year on a number of fronts with mobile traffic growing by more than 67% and Thanksgiving turning out to be a...