The mobile wallet market is constantly changing, often in unexpected ways. Products have evolved dramatically in a very short amount of time, and companies that seemed committed to one strategy a year ago now find themselves on a completely different path.

Samsung is confident even though its payment service comes almost a year after Apple's. Unlike Apple Pay, Samsung's can work with the magnetic-strip card readers that are common in stores and restaurants. On top of that, Samsung won't charge banks and credit-card issuers transaction fees.

The recent explosion of mobile commerce and payments would not have been possible without open and sharable technology, and the credit union service organization CO-OP Financial Services aims to duplicate that success with its own technology.

The timing brings Samsung's mobile wallet to market just a few weeks shy of Apple Pay's one-year anniversary — and in line with the expected annual refresh of Apple's iPhone line.

WeChat, a smartphone instant-messenger, digital wallet and car-booking service rolled up into one, is probably worth $83.6 billion. As people spend more and more time sending short messages to each other, such services have become some of the hottest technology businesses around.

Visa's newly established Bangalore-based technology development center is rebuilding Visa's presence in India, bringing fresh ideas to some older projects.

Payment and identification card company American Banknote (ABnote) and cloud-based payment company MeaWallet are partnering to create an open-loop mobile wallet for ABnote customers.

As CEO of the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) mobile wallet venture, Brian Mooney must remain calm as his company faces an increasingly stormy market with no product to show for its years-long efforts.

In the heavily competitive mobile payments market, the fastest way to lose is to pin all hopes on one vendor. Rite Aid learned this lesson the hard way as a participant in the Merchant Customer Exchange, a multi-retailer mobile payments initiative that demanded exclusivity from its partners.

Western Union has added several European countries to its WU.com online money transfer service, using an omni-channel strategy to fuel its expansion.

The technology vendor Nymi is drawing the attention of major companies like MasterCard and TD Bank, which are testing its contactless payments device that authenticates users by detecting their heartbeat.

Envestnet in Chicago has agreed to buy Yodlee, the operator of a personal finance management and bill payment platform.

Amex has a track record of quickly embracing mobile technology, and Monday’s move to enable Apple Pay for corporate card payments is no exception.

Mobile payments are quickly becoming an integral part of consumers’ daily lives. In order for businesses to stay competitive, it’s important for them to stay on top of the trends in the industry.

Cardmaker American Banknote (ABnote) is pushing a package the vendor says makes it is easy to deliver Apple Passbook functionality on Android devices.

The first version of the Samsung mobile wallet is nothing like the Samsung Pay that is now making its way to handsets. But the one consistent theme in Samsung's strategy is to be the first to experiment with new technologies.

Many payment companies are hosting hackathons to attract developer talent from outside their own ranks; MasterCard found that its own people are just as eager to bring their ideas to life.

Starbucks founder and Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz says he won't be making a run for U.S. president.

Twitter is reportedly integrating with Shopify and other e-commerce companies to find merchants to support its buy button.

Target is deploying Bluetooth beacons to offer time-sensitive deals and product recommendations to shoppers in its stores, and it has more ambitious plans for the technology later in the year.