PayPal

Other digital payment companies have not had success with plastic cards. But the lack of expense and potential adoption create an opportunity for Square and Venmo.

LendUp is seeking to differentiate itself from competitors by making fast loan decisions and designing its customer experience around the mobile phone.

As the company diversifies beyond international tuition payments, it's also looking to diversify transaction options.

Automated messaging platform SnatchBot will allow payments inside chatbots by linking to merchant PayPal accounts, making it easier to pair transactions with digital conversations.

At its core, PayPal remains sharply focused on digital payments. But like other payments providers and processors during what has been a renaissance period for payments technology, the San Jose-based company has had to reinvent itself to keep firm control of its role.

The agency recently sent a letter to nine banks urging them to stop offering deferred interest cards, arguing that consumers are often unaware of the risks involved.

In the quest for top technology talent, financial firms are tapping into a resource long overlooked by Silicon Valley: former members of the military.

PayPal has worked to build support from retailers and consumers, positioning it well in the competitive e-commerce game, writes Lauren Freedman, senior vice president of digital strategy at Astound Commerce.

Today’s primitive question-and-answer programs will mature into sophisticated conversational agents, which will help customers transact and may even be capable of understanding emotional cues, experts say.

PayPal's strategic partnership with Google has advanced to online shopping, as Android Pay users will soon have PayPal as a funding option for e-commerce.