Financial institutions need to have good digital offerings, but they also need to find ways to stand out from the crowd. That's why branches will remain a crucial home base.

The ideal digital bank would respect customers' privacy and relate to them as human beings while offering an array of simple, easy-to-use mobile and online apps.

Gliph is combining its secure messaging app with its Bitcoin payment capabilities to form an online and mobile app, called Gliph Marketplace, to compete with Craigslist.

Vogogo, a payments company that enables users to convert cryptocurrencies into government-backed currencies, has acquired Vanado Inc., a consulting and payment services company based in Denver.

The payments industry is quickly adapting to new technology, new regulations and new consumer demands. Here are 15 of the industry's major transformations already in progress.

As payments providers shore up their security, using tokenization on top of biometrics on top of encryption, will there be a need for merchants to manage fraud on a per-transaction basis?

The City of New York intends to develop mobile payment options for those paying fines for parking violations.

The digital currency movement is headed into 2015 still looking for a "killer app" to pull Bitcoin out of obscurity. Mixing Bitcoin's technology with the virality of social media could be the winning ticket.

A Canadian startup says it will enable customers to swap their holdings between gold bullion and bitcoins, and it plans an initial public offering next year.

Charlie Shrem, the former Bitcoin Foundation Inc. executive who pleaded guilty to charges tied to the illicit online bazaar "Silk Road," was sentenced to two years in prison by a judge who rejected his bid to remain free and "change the world."

Charlie Shrem, the former Bitcoin Foundation vice chairman who pleaded guilty to federal charges tied to the illicit online bazaar “Silk Road,” was sentenced to 2 years in prison despite his lawyer’s bid for only probation.

Benjamin Lawsky, New York's top financial regulator, sharply criticized banks for their failure to speed up the payment system, warning that the government may step in if they continue to lag behind.

New York financial regulator Benjamin Lawsky revised his proposal for policing virtual-currency companies to eliminate some rules that Silicon Valley claimed would crush the fledgling industry.

One big question in the debate over regulating cryptocurrencies is whether to apply existing rules to these new technologies or craft new ones. A state regulators' trade group recognizes that there may be no one right answer.

Many disruptive technologies come from startups, but just as many seem to come from companies that have been around for decades. Whether developing a new system in-house or providing a necessary proving ground for a partner, these older companies are bringing fresh innovations to the payments industry.

Microsoft is working with Bitcoin merchant services provider BitPay to allow customers to seamlessly exchange the virtual currency when loading money into their Microsoft accounts.

Paul Camp, a veteran of JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, has joined the digital-currency consumer finance company Circle Internet Financial as the startup’s new chief financial officer.

Tax authorities all over the world are making decisions on how to view the new and increasingly popular decentralized digital currencies such as Bitcoin.

Earthport, a cross-border payments service provider, has partnered with the digital currency network provider Ripple Labs to allow enterprise businesses, including banks, to more efficiently transmit money worldwide.

Bitcoin wallet providers have had a touchy relationship with prepaid cards. But whether or not these companies care about plastic, they should care about how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's prepaid proposal affects them.