As the market for prepaid cards expands and diversifies, many companies are experimenting to see what works — and in the process, they are learning that a product-based mindset could hold them back.

Mobile payments company Fortumo is adding technology that allows Chinese software developers to expand overseas.

Virtual Piggy, which offers an online alternative payment system for teens, will run a developers event for participants up to 19 years old in Los Angeles on Dec. 7.

Banks and payments companies are trying to develop new technology for customers' evolving needs, including person-to-person payments. But many of these new innovations must measure themselves against Square and its success. Daniel Wolfe, Editor-in-Chief of PaymentsSource, reports from SourceMedia's ATM, Debit and Prepaid Forum.

Utility companies are hungry for a mobile bill payment feature to reach customers more effectively, according a survey conducted by Check, a mobile finance management and bill payment company.

Consumers continue to view their banks as a trusted payments provider, but they view PayPal Inc. as the nonbank to trust the most.

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) wants to drastically boost membership in its loyalty program, a move that will necessitate going well beyond its typical geographic and demographic boundaries.

Dunn Brothers Coffee has rolled out a mobile payments and loyalty app across its network of 80 locally-owned shops.

VeriFone and Lilitab have developed a self-service payment kiosk that is certified to connect to Apple devices such as iPhones, iPads and iPods.

One-size-fits-all mobile card readers and apps won't cut it for many merchants, says Scott Holt, a vice president at mobile point of sale company Roam.

Revel Systems has integrated its iPad-based point of sale system with the Adyen Shuttle mobile card reader to provide more European merchants with an option for reading EMV-chip cards.

Mobile payments company Clinkle has hired Barry McCarthy to be its chief operating officer.

Irish financial services group Fexco and BNP Paribas are acquiring Flashiz, a two-year old Luxembourg-based mobile payment company.

The alternative payment provider Dwolla has launched a credit-based instant payments capability, built on partnerships with banks and credit unions.

The coveted "Millennial" generation of consumers ages 18 to 34 is central to the success of any new payments technology – but this group also has a wide range of financial goals that make it hard to target with a one-size-fits-all product.

Just as Square invented a plug-in device to bypass the gatekeepers of the payments industry, banks may be able to turn the tables with a plug-in device designed to bypass the gatekeepers of the mobile industry.

Visa and MasterCard have aggressively worked to establish their V.me and MasterPass wallets since launching both products within the past year, and both companies are trying to learn from their past efforts in e-payments.

OnBudget seeks to build customer retention of daily expense prepaid cards by incorporating personal financial management tools that digitize the "envelope budgeting system" popular among consumers.

Although its third quarter net income dropped 7% year-over-year, Discover Financial Services remains confident in the opportunities it has invested in for the future.

Consumers are increasingly jumping form one channel to another when shopping and paying, pressuring issuers and other payment companies to simultaneously accommodate older plastic-card models alongside the Web and mobile commerce.