It can often seem that some of the biggest names in payments were established a long time ago in a galaxy far away, and today are constantly defending their empires from scrappy startups launched by digital natives.

Visa has begun rolling out the Visa Token Service in the Asia Pacific region, starting with United Overseas Bank in Singapore.

The uncertain state of the prepaid card market doesn’t faze Texas entrepreneur Houston Frost, who has relaunched the Akimbo prepaid card, a concept he’s championed since 2011.

Though it seems as if the Merchant Customer Exchange has been stuck in the same mud the past year — still testing its CurrentC mobile wallet with no true launch date set — much has happened to support those who believe the retailer joint venture could still land squarely on its feet.

Wirecard Group and Alipay are collaborating to provide European retailers with barcode technology enabling Chinese tourists to make point of sale payments using the Alipay mobile wallet app.

A lot happened in 2015 to advance digital security, but a lot also happened to challenge the status quo and force merchants and banks to rethink their strategies. Here are some of the key changes that took place in the past year.

Even though Walmart has been a key member and driving force behind the Merchant Customer Exchange joint venture to establish a new mobile wallet, the retailer's addition of Walmart Pay to its mobile app is consistent with strategy, and will lead to a wave of individual bank and retailer initiatives.

One of the leaders of the retailer-driven Merchant Customer Exchange mobile payment system, Walmart is stepping out with its own alternative to Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay.

For mobile commerce provider Cardfree, landing a deal with Dunkin' Donuts to upgrade its app to include pre-ordering and payment is like a trip to the past.

Vodafone is extending M-Pesa to Ghana, making it the 11th country to offer the mobile money service to unbanked consumers in developing markets in Africa, India and Europe.

As wearable computing transitions from fantasy to fashion, developers are starting to consider the distinct risks that arise when payments migrate away from smartphones.

FitPay's alternative approach to wearable payments has gotten a boost from Comerica Bank and RocketSpace, which have chosen FitPay as the winner of the Wearable FinTech Startup Challenge.

Competition for commercial clients is fierce, so banks are on the hunt for ways to keep their customers happy.

Mobile ticketing and payment provider Masabi has received $12 million in funding from various investors, including MasterCard.

Most credit unions lack the resource heft of the larger banks that are pursuing their own mobile payment projects, but they aren't left empty-handed.

Wirecard's Indonesian arm has partnered with local financial technology firms to integrate a Near Field Communication-powered mobile wallet, TCASH, into its global network.

Apple Inc. is reportedly working with Boku to bring a carrier billing option to iTunes users in Russia.

The "last mile" of a business-to-business payment, as funds reach a destination bank account, needs common standards and transparency as more companies eliminate paper checks and move to digital transactions.

One of Europe's newest digital wallet initiatives is relying on technology that sidesteps carriers, another blow to an industry that's suffered greatly in its attempts to gain share of the mobile payments market.

The mobile wallet is still a niche product, but many companies worldwide made big strides in bringing secure payments to handheld devices. Some of the most groundbreaking changes happened just in the past year.