Wirecard AG filed for insolvency, the culmination of a stunning accounting scandal that led to the arrest of its CEO and left the German payment-processing firm unable to find over $2 billion missing from its balance sheet.

Three years ago, Alipay began its brick-and-mortar conquest of North America, promoting acceptance of the Alibaba affiliate Ant Group's mobile wallet at shops targeting Chinese tourists, eventually reaching thousands of U.S. and Canadian stores.

Wirecard AG won a short reprieve from the lenders on its $2 billion revolving credit facility after banks decided to assess the embattled company’s long-term viability before telling it to repay the loan.

Checkout.com’s $150 million funding round triples the e-commerce company’s valuation to $5.5 billion, and it follows an even larger $600 million bet on Stripe this spring.

To truly bridge the gap for moving small-dollar transactions to mobile and contactless, vast areas of the retail industry will need to adapt to accept cashless transactions.

Whether they take the form of a mobile wallet or a touch-free credit card, contactless payments are poised to take off as consumers — wary of using terminals and ATMs or handing cards back and forth — change their habits.

A global health crisis. Economic free fall. A reckoning over racism and inequality. We will not be the same after this — and neither will banking.

While it’s inevitable that fraudsters will continue to hone and change their methods, businesses must continually monitor the factors that affect fraud — from changing consumer behaviors to major economic trends — and the actions they can take to safeguard against them.

Wirecard AG’s former chief executive officer was detained by Munich prosecutors after 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion) went missing from the digital-payment company, in a scandal that has rattled Germany’s financial industry.

Micro-investing apps that can enable payments, savings management and investment all in one place will gain favorable consideration from investors and consumers alike, says Naples Technology Ventures' Tom Hogan.