David Heun

To other companies, Apple Card's pitch to consumers is not just free marketing; it's an entirely new market for a traditionally business-centric product.

Banks, for the most part, have not advanced their core digital technologies as quickly as payments networks and disruptors ahead of the original PSD2 deadline. And the European Banking Authority has also cited the payments networks for not advancing the 3D Secure 2.0 online authentication model far enough to comply with PSD2 provisions.

For many entrants in the integrated receivables space, payment data is the foundation for nearly every other business process or decision. Increasingly, banks are latching onto data services and making them available to their small and midsize business clients.

Expense management provider Bento for Business has launched its Bento Pay B2B payment app with partner Dwolla, which has specialized in B2B payments the past few years after initially operating mobile wallet and financial institution faster payment services.

E-commerce's dramatic expansion gives any merchant the opportunity to sell in any market. That leaves payment providers scrambling for an angle in a crowded market.

As the competition mounts to increase adoption rates for person-to-person payment apps, PayPal's Venmo is adding a way for users to quickly move money from the app to their bank account.

Lightico is focusing on how users engage with institutions on a mobile device, something the company believes is a shortcoming among card issuers.

Three years ago, payments technology provider Dwolla submitted a 164-page proposal to the Federal Reserve's Faster Payments Task Force. This week, the Fed unveiled a plan for its own faster payments system, but Dwolla had already moved on to other projects.

The question of upgrading to 3D Secure 2.0 authorization will become easier for European e-commerce merchants if it proves to be a path to compliance with a provision of PSD2, the revised Payment Services Directive.

If Bank of America had decided a few years ago to end its joint venture with First Data, it would have been looked upon as just another instance in which a bank was either planning to handle its own payments in-house, or turning those tasks over to a processor.