States are changing how they regulate bitcoin, but convincing merchants and consumers to jump-start a dreary cryptocurrency payments market is another matter.

Furniture retailers typically split payment for big-ticket items with a deposit and the balance due upon delivery, but the process is usually fraught with paperwork, security and efficiency gaps.

In the tug-of-war over merchants refusing either cash or cards embroiling local governments in New Jersey, New York City and Philadelphia, the Iowa State Fair is taking the middle ground. Beginning next year, all fair vendors will be required to accept cash, cards and contactless payments through First Data’s Clover devices.

The venture capital arms of Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Salesforce.com Inc. are investing in U.K. payments startup GoCardless, which has has raised an additional $75 million to fund expansion.

Virtual cards are showing potential to streamline business transactions, attracting a business payment collaboration between Barclaycard and SAP.

Alipay is a force to be reckoned with outside of China, but it has taken a strategic approach to foreign markets that downplays its potential as a threat to local payment systems.

JPMorgan's blockchain effort could lead to solutions that overcome industry skepticism and regulatory concerns and perhaps attract more mainstream retail interest.

Barclays, Bank of America, TD Bank and other banks have filed multiple blockchain patents over the years, but have yet to publicly announce their plans for the technology.

JPMorgan is prototyping its own digital currency to be used for cross-border payments and, later, other purposes. Will banks find this a palatable alternative to today's most well-known options?

Ant Financial, the Chinese payments company that operates Alipay, has a scale that’s almost unimaginable to a U.S. audience. But the giant's ability to build a true empire has already run into regulatory trouble in the U.S.—and it’s affecting Ant's strategy worldwide.