Payment companies have made substantial investments into new identity rules in Europe, but the deadline has become a moving target with different agencies offering conflicting or unclear guidance.

The LendingClubs and SoFis of the world have a big head start, but HSBC's U.S. unit says its partnership with the fintech Avant will help it close the gap in online personal loans.

Regulatory sandboxes can create a lot of opportunity for the winners but inadvertently put losers at a competitive disadvantage.

Checkout-free technology is very limited in availability and very much a work in progress, but developers and investors are relying on its promise to accelerate payments' broader evolution from streamlining execution to determining intent.

Fintechs can help integrate payments into banking systems while solving the compliance problem, says Joel Sherwin of Weinberg Gonser LLP.

Changing consumer attitudes about these companies and the emergence of open banking have made them appealing to venture investors, whose commitments rose 15% in the first half of the year.

Keeping up with changing technology can be difficult but institutions are making investments in ITMs, new lending platforms and more.

VCs have been devoting more attention — and funding — to U.K.-based digital remittance providers such as TransferWise, Revolut, WorldRemit and their smaller rival Paysend.

Ambiguity about which laws apply to blockchain technology has prevented certain companies from doing business in the United States.

Marqeta was in on the API digital payments game early, but rivals from Stripe to Wirecard are aggressively expanding digital payment solutions for diverse consumer and B2B use cases.