David Heun

In working with correspondent banks in developing countries for more than two decades, INTL FCStone Ltd. spent a fair amount of time collecting market information over the phone and through e-mail from those banks to share with others. It ultimately determined there was a better way to do this.

The B-to-B payments market is ripe for digital innovation. Here are some of the most recent moves to bring B-to-B payments up to speed.

Walmart adjusted two of its long-standing, in-house offerings this week, saying it was lowering the rates for its domestic Walmart2Walmart money transfer service and adding a digital money transfer service with Bluebird2Walmart.

In the midst of some company restructuring, Total System Services Inc. delivered a 60% increase in total revenue during the first quarter of 2017 at $1.2 billion, compared to last year's $739 million.

With The Clearing House still targeting November for the launch of its Real-Time Payments service, it relies on a wide range of partnerships to introduce this offering to the banks that would use it.

In the past, card issuers could lure new customers by offering a low promotional rate. But regulations in the wake of the financial crisis don't allow rate adjustments, and issuers also can't increase credit lines as they did in the past.

Visa is learning that it its reunification with Visa Europe last summer came at a very good time.

As marijuana legalization spreads throughout the U.S. and the world, companies in the cannabis market must navigate a delicate tangle of new and old regulations. And many payment providers are unwilling to risk working with dispensaries, leading to some inventive workarounds.

Payments and liquidity management provider Dovetail wants to make sure banks in the euro zone have the systems in place to allow business customers to take advantage of new options for sending and receiving payments later this year.

The majority of small and medium-sized businesses in the U.S. and Europe express an interest in real-time payments, but very few are aware of the current options being tested and brought to market.