Google Wallet flaw takes the lock off your mobile money (updated)

Updated with comment from Google at 5:14pm PT.

A new vulnerability in Google Wallet gives thieves access to your funds, even if the application data has been erased.

Google Wallet lets you digitize your credit cards and pay for things using near-field communication (NFC). That is, all you have to do is touch your phone to an NFC device and the item you’re buying is automatically charged to your account. Google has touted that its … Continue Reading

Obama now accepting campaign donations through Square

It’s an election year, which means it is time for debates, caucuses, and campaign fundraising. This year, President Obama is going beyond the hefty check and taking donations using tech-darling Square.

“Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, running for president or local assembly, Square makes it easier than ever for candidates, organizations and volunteers to fundraise for their cause,” said a Square spokesperson.

Square allows businesses to accept credit card payments through their mobile … Continue Reading

Paypal’s mobile payments growing exponentially, reached $4B in 2011

Update: Paypal has confirmed it reached $4 billion in mobile payments last year.

If you need one example that epitomizes the massive potential in mobile payments, you need only look at PayPal.

The online payment company racked up $4 billion worth of mobile payments last year, a huge jump from $750 million in 2010, PayPal mobile vice president David Marcus told VentureBeat in an interview today.

Putting the figure in an even crazier perspective, tallied … Continue Reading

Intuit releases debit card to be used with its mobile GoPayment system

Mobile payments are on the rise, but what about when a small merchant needs to make a payment? Intuit is releasing its own debit card, tethered to its mobile payments service GoPayment to help business owners keep the cash organized.

“In addition to helping them get paid, we’re helping them make payments,” said vice president and general manager of Intuit’s Payment Solutions division Chris Hylen in a statement. “This is just the beginning. Intuit will … Continue Reading

Mobile payments wunderkind Square hits 1M merchant milestone

Mobile payments startup Square now has more than 1 million merchants charging credit cards with the service, the company announced today.

“Just as small businesses are growing with Square, we’re growing with them: Over 1 million merchants now accept credit cards via Square,” the company said on Twitter.

Square is one of a handful of companies, along with names like PayPal, Google and Intuit, that are quickly transforming the mobile payments landscape. The company’s service … Continue Reading

Sequent’s NFC platform takes care of the hard stuff, lets anyone tap into mobile payments

Near-field communication (NFC) technology has seen quite a bit of hype over the past year, but many companies have been taking a wait and see approach with NFC because it’s difficult to manage and still unproven with consumers.

Sequent, a Redwood City, Calif.-based startup launching today, aims to spur on the adoption of NFC with its platform, which makes it easy for any company to implement and manage NFC in their apps. By simplifying the … Continue Reading

Scandanavian payment startup Klarna nabs a huge $155M round

A handful of big-name venture firms have lobbed a sizable chunk of change at Klarna, a Swedish startup that’s taking on Paypal in the mobile and online payments arena.

This is the startup’s third round of venture capital funding; previously, it had raised just $10 million total, including an angel round that weighed in at less than $100,000.

Now, however, it’s apparently playing in the big leagues, with funding coming from previous investor Sequoia Capital … Continue Reading

Mobile payments are on fire today, where will they be in 2015 (infographic)

We just can’t give enough love to mobile payments as we watch the world move from cash to credit to cardless. Intuit is feeling the evolution too and created an infographic to explain just how much mobile payments are growing and where they’ll be in 2015.

The two biggest payment players last year were obviously credit and debit cards, with a small, but rising mobile payments only making up 5 percent of purchases executed. But … Continue Reading

Starbucks apps account for 26M mobile payments and $110M in card reloads

The Starbucks brand may be synonymous with pricey lattes, but the coffee conglomerate has pushed a number of mobile initiatives in 2011 to make its name also stand for digital innovation.

New numbers released Monday suggest that the strategy is working.

Starbucks has now processed more than 26 million mobile payments since January, Adam Brotman, vice president and general manager of digital ventures at Starbucks, told VentureBeat.

Add to that the fact that more than … Continue Reading

Mobile banking pioneer mFoundry nabs $18M from MasterCard, Intel Capital and others

You could say that mFoundry was totally into mobile payments before it was cool. Now the company is reaping the rewards of being an early adopter, announcing today that it has received $18 million in growth-capital funding led by MasterCard, following a recently announced partnership between the two companies.

mFoundry says the funds will be used to push development of new mobile payments products, as well as to expand its mobile banking business. The company … Continue Reading

PayPal sees 514 percent increase of mobile payments on Cyber Monday

Maybe “cha-ching” should be “ra-ring,” as PayPal had a 514 percent increase in mobile payments this Cyber Monday from last year.

Just as people adapted to purchasing online, now they are becoming more accustomed to buying through their smartphones. PayPal is seeing a six-fold increase in mobile payments, as smartphones move toward owning half of 2011′s mobile marketshare. A recent Nielsen study states 43 percent of mobile phone owners are smartphone users, 62 percent being … Continue Reading

Jeans too tight? Save some room and use Google Wallet at select Gap stores

What’s in your wallet? If you’ve swapped your fuddy-duddy analog money-toting accessory for Google’s more en vogue mobile wallet then you’ve got a 15 percent off coupon to the Gap hiding inside.

Google Wallet is a mobile payment and loyalty system available to folks with NFC-enabled Android devices. The alternative payment option launched to consumers in September with limited availability, and will soon compete with Isis, the mobile payment network backed by AT&T, T-Mobile and … Continue Reading

PayPal launches ‘Send Money’ Facebook app for social payments

Online payments powerhouse PayPal has launched a new Facebook application called Send Money that makes sending payments to your Facebook friends incredibly easy.

PayPal has been dipping its toes into all kinds of payment technologies across mobile and social, and just a week ago PayPal updated its Android application to enable NFC (near-field communications) payments.

The company’s foray into easy social payments with the new Facebook app, however, is a simple, common-sense move. Facebook has … Continue Reading

Get Square with Santa: Salvation Army volunteers now take donations with Square readers

You know how every holiday season you avoid eye-contact with the Salvation Army Santas collecting donations, mumbling “I don’t have any cash, sorry” as you hurry by? Well, now you’re totally screwed, Scrooge. This season, Salvation Army Santas are taking donations using Square!

Every year, more than 25,000 bell-ringing volunteers, some dressed at Saint Nick, hit the street corners near stores and shopping malls to collect change and small bills from holiday shoppers. Last year, … Continue Reading

Visa launches PayPal competitor V.me with developer community to back it up

Visa announced V.me today, a PayPal-like online payments system, along with a new developer center encouraging developers to actually use it.

Visa and the credit card are almost synonymous. But since the inception of e-commerce, payments don’t just fall into the credit card swipe, written check, or passed cash forms anymore. Now there’s the virtual credit card swipe, direct extraction from bank accounts and even a move toward organized bartering on sites such as Yardsellr … Continue Reading

Ditch those coupons: Square updates iOS and Android apps with loyalty features

Mobile payments startup Square has updated its popular iOS and Android apps to include loyalty tracking and discounts for regular customers and further hardware support for brick-and-mortar stores, the company revealed today.

“We’re enabling merchants to recognize regulars that use the Card Case application,” Megan Quinn, Square’s director of products, told VentureBeat. “With this update, there’s no need for coupons, punch cards or third-party apps.”

Square’s mobile payments service has seen incredible growth since its … Continue Reading

Square announces Sir Richard Branson to its lineup of storied investors

Mobile payments company Square announced that Sir Richard Branson is an investor today, after a Form D filed with the SEC recently confirmed its $100 million round of funding.

“As you know, I’m interested in a variety of sectors,” Branson told VentureBeat in an e-mail. “In recent years, thanks in part to Virgin America (being based in the Silicon Valley and doing a great job serving tech-savvy guests), I’ve learned more about tech in general … Continue Reading

Amex throws $100M at its biggest problem: suiting up for the digital revolution

American Express has just earmarked a $100 million fund to “identify and develop innovative technologies that will help… accelerate the company’s digital transformation.”

The company, which was founded in 1849, is now establishing a Silicon Valley office to stay on top of the latest developments in mobile and finance technologies.

The new office and fund will be led by Harshul Sanghi, the former head of Motorola Mobility Ventures.

“As we enter the next chapter in … Continue Reading

Starbucks has processed 20M mobile payments since January

Starbucks has processed more than 20 million mobile payment transactions, the company revealed during its earnings call Thursday.

Starbucks Mobile Pay, the company’s pay-by-mobile application and in-store scanner system, was rolled out nationwide in January. The system, available at roughly 9,000 locations, lets iPhone, Android and BlackBerry users with the Starbucks or Starbucks Card Mobile applications pay with their phones by scanning 2D barcodes on the screen at store registers.

Nine weeks after it launched … Continue Reading