For the financial and retail industries, mobile is becoming a significant part of the strategy for delivering valuable content and services to customers. Two technologies in particular are available on many of today’s smartphones and are being looked at to enhance consumer experience: Near Field Communications (NFC) and Bluetooth low energy (BLE).

Seamless' international expansion plans have gotten a boost via a deal with the Finnish sporting goods chain store Top-Sport.

Bindo wants to combine its cloud-based iPad point of sale product with an online marketplace, similar to how Square's iPad system links merchants to Square Marketplace. This hybrid approach is meant to make Bindo more appealing to local merchants.

Barclays has experimented with a number of mobile, wearable and online payment systems in its quest to bring its payment offerings into the modern age. Through its tests and live deployments of new technology around the world, the London-based issuer has learned how to entice consumers to move beyond plastic cards.

Capital One has snatched a designer from Google's touted advanced technology and projects team to help boost the bank's mobile commerce and payments technology development.

CaixaBank has started offering a wristband that can make contactless Visa payments at more than 300,000 businesses across Spain.

Yapital, a payment technology company based in Luxembourg, is testing a feature that will allow consumers to authorize payments with their fingerprints. The technology is aimed replacing PINs that consumers use to authorize purchases though the Yapital app.

Facebook has expanded its relationship with payments provider Braintree, which is part of eBay's PayPal, to power a program for mobile application developers.

SCVNGR's LevelUp mobile wallet has updated its Android app to support Android Wear, making LevelUp one of the first payment companies to support Google's smartwatch platform.

Virtual credit cards, which have struggled with adoption in other regions, are picking up steam in India as a means to combat online fraud.

JCB plans to expand its current J/Speedy contactless card technology to allow Japanese consumers to make cross-border payments with EMV-chip cards or through smartphones and wearable devices.

Newegg's recent acceptance of Bitcoin is just the latest of the online electronics retailer's many digital payment options. Its tech-savvy audience demands digital currency and digital wallets, and accommodating these needs is critical to Newegg's expansion into new markets.

London-based Payza now offers its online payment processing and eWallet services in the United States. Payza is currently used by over 10 million people worldwide as well as 75,000 merchants.

AsiaPay has integrated its payment offerings with Micros Systems to offer technology to the hotel sector in Asia.

Direct carrier billing is gaining in popularity as a way to make payments on – and, increasingly, off – a smartphone. Google is the latest company to put more muscle behind the emerging payment method.

Twitter appears to be preparing to add "Buy Now" buttons to tweets in a move to transform its microblogging service into an e-commerce platform.

Paysafecard is bringing its prepaid online payment service to Peru and Uruguay, providing those who may not have a bank account with an e-commerce shopping option.

Optimal Payments, a payments and risk management company based in London, is acquiring two online payment firms in an effort to expand its business in the U.S.

The U.S. would be at a clear disadvantage if its financial institutions fail to adopt the ISO 20022 standard, which many other regions use to handle electronic payments, the Federal Reserve Banks say.

The telco is offering Payleven's hardware to enable its small-business customers to comply with an Italian mandate to cut back on cash use.