Mobile point-of-sale

The company’s shares have more than doubled in the past year, as investors have become more positive about its earnings potential in targeting bigger businesses.

Backed by the Clover platform, merchants using the devices can manage their businesses in real-time over an online backend portal that can be accessed from a smartphone, tablet, or computer.

Advances in mobile technology have also permeated into other products, including point of sale hardware. With mobile point of sale devices being updated to include sophisticated software, there is more real-time capture of customer data in the store.

Walmart Inc., pushing to challenge Amazon.com Inc. in e-commerce, has added more technology savvy to its board.

Parents with children on youth sports teams have a lot to keep track of, not the least of which is payments for the fees associated with competitions.

Square Inc. shares climbed after Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey said the company is introducing Bitcoin trading for almost all users of its cash payments app, signaling support for the volatile cryptocurrency.

The mobile POS hardware and software provider is propelling its relationship with Apple to deliver technology for Major League Baseball that will allow entry into stadiums through digital tickets and Near Field Communication readers.

Tightening its connections to restaurants with a brisk delivery business, Square has acquired a longstanding Dallas-based local food delivery service to add to its Caviar food-ordering platform.

As much as any new trend in 2018, the advancement of the Smart Cities concept will have a lasting effect on payments.

Verifone's integrated payments strategy is focused around its mobile Carbon POS, and the San Jose-based terminal manufacturer has now added cloud-based POS software from talech to the Carbon platform.