Michael Moeser

The news that Snap Inc. is shutting down Snapcash, a version of Square Cash offered on its Snapchat social media platform, may have less to do with P2P payments and more to do with the long-term future of the company itself.

Starbucks achieved rapid adoption of its mobile card app by building it on top of the highly successful Starbucks closed-loop gift card. Such a model could also apply to the cannabis market, which is largely shunned by mainstream banks and card networks.

American Express has spent years developing new marketing alliances and acquiring programs to shed its reputation as a card for the elite. But its success still hinges on premium cardholders.

On the surface, the Uber-Venmo partnership sounds like a coup for Venmo, getting its brand into the app that defined the ride-sharing category. But the partnership is a much bigger deal for Uber.

PayPal's executives likely expected the company's $3 billion buying spree of companies like Hyperwallet and iZettle to dominate its media coverage this month. But a single careless letter has stolen the narrative.

The graveyard of defunct all-in-one startups includes companies like Coin, Swyp, Stratos and Plastc. But whenever one of these companies failed, its technology simply moved on to a new owner.

In order for Apple to achieve significant success with its upcoming P-to-P service, the tech titan needs to expand the amount of people who can use the payments feature.

Many banks and money transmitters have built successful billion-dollar businesses around P-to-P payments without social sharing and letting users send emojis.