David Heun

It has been difficult for the card brands' 3D Secure technology to find a following in the U.S., in part because of a lack of awareness, and in part because of the consumer friction the authentication process has caused in the past.

PayPal has long sought to improve its ability to reach external developers, and on Thursday made a new move in that direction by putting an open network called PayPal Commerce into beta testing.

Silicon Valley companies like Marqeta, Stripe and Braintree cut their teeth on the open network concept, creating a place for themselves at the table of future embedded payments, instant card issuing or instant credit.

The cloud and Internet of Things may excite the payments and technology industries, but they are a source of mounting pressure for in-house data security professionals.

Hardware security modules have long been a staple in payments network security, but increasing transaction flow and coding in the mobile and digital age can create data bottlenecks with current technology.

Golf course management software provider Club Prophet Systems is using the linked2pay application interface to add Automated Clearing House payment acceptance as an option for its clients.

Cross-border payment provider Payoneer will partner with digital marketing company Tradedoubler to provide commission-based payments between advertisers and online publishers.

EMV certification provider Fime is providing validation for chip-based RuPay cards in India to comply with National Payments Corporation of India requirements.

"I realized that if you want more, you have to constantly look for new tasks and new areas to be involved and learn new skills, all while making yourself a little uncomfortable in the process," Elliott said.

In the past year, Verifone's European market share has grown more than 10 percentage points, and Felix declares it her proudest moment in a career that spans 26 years.