Bailey Reutzel

Banks and other traditional payment companies need to keep an open mind when assessing the market today as new entrants build systems to disrupt the old models, said Christine Cumming, first vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Biometric authentication may seem all the rage now that Apple uses fingerprint authentication in its mobile wallet, but the Bitcoin ATM provider RoboCoin has concluded that biometric technology can be more of a hassle than a help.

Whether financial services executives love or hate Bitcoin, experts say the digital currency's underlying technology will inevitably affect their businesses. And the next generation of consumers are driving this change.

Business-to-business payments are ripe for disruption and there are plenty of startups innovating in the space today. These newcomers, after being thwarted by corporate red tape, are finding a more welcoming audience from small businesses.

Kim Kardashian may be an overexposed reality star, but she's also a tech entrepreneur with a short-lived past in the payments industry. And several companies in the Bitcoin space are repeating her biggest mistake by offering a plastic payment card.

Xapo, a bitcoin startup headed by financial services entrepreneur Wences Casares, is launching its wallet app on iOS, a move that shows the company has turned some attention to ease of use.

Mobile point of sale technology is gaining traction, though providers say the middle market requires a stronger sell.

Apple Pay and the card networks' support is boosting tokenization as a security option for mobile payments, though fraud trends suggest an even more layered approach will be necessary.

JPMorgan Chase and Co. will update its QuickPay person-to-person mobile payments app because the consumer experience could be better, according to Chase CEO of consumer and community banking Gordon Smith.

Remittance incumbents and digital startups are aggressively dismissing each other in public statements, though both sides have distinct advantages in the battle to control the expanding remittance payments market.

Bitcoin merchant services provider BitPay added support for contactless Near Field Communication payments through its new Bitcoin Checkout App, eliminating several steps in its payment process.

Avangate is working to meet its customers' demands for revenue-recovering tools for "freemium" business models, which offer a basic product or service for free but charge for add-ons or ongoing use.

The state's superintendent of financial services has softened his stance toward bitcoin and other payment startups and has already shortened New York's money transmitter license application review process, which used to take nine months.

The New York Department of Financial Services will likely institute an on-ramp for new Bitcoin businesses — and possibly any other kind of money transmitting startups — as a way for them to launch without being burdened by costly licensing requirements.

Airlines are looking to new technology to mitigate loyalty program fraud, which has typically been difficult to control.

As regulators heighten their scrutiny of Bitcoin businesses, several digital currency supporters are looking for business models that do not subject them to the cumbersome requirements they would face as money services businesses or money transmitters.

BBVA Compass is partnering with Dwolla, the Des Moines, Iowa-based alternative payment network to enable real-time payment capabilities throughout its offerings.

Because of the conflicting messages from providers of mobile payments, consumers are not yet sold on the possibility that they can use apps to replace their plastic cards.

Because of the conflicting messages from providers of mobile payments, consumers are not yet sold on the possibility that they can use apps to replace their plastic cards.

WEX Inc.'s virtual card business has continued to grow as the company makes more payments to hotels for its online travel company clients.