Disruptors

Bluetooth beacons — small nightlight-sized devices that can communicate with a mobile app as shoppers move throughout a store — may have the same potential for bank branches as they do for mega-retailers like Target Corp.

Nothing accelerates innovation quite like a new car. But before consumers can outfit their vehicles with James Bond gadgetry, they need a way to pay for it all from behind the wheel.

Startups, including one in the virtual currency field, have approached the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency about applying for banking charters, the agency's chief counsel said Thursday.

Square is "betting big on Near Field Communication," but not to the point the company would consider bringing back its own Square Wallet app, CEO Jack Dorsey says.

Retirement was good for Pamela Joseph, former head of U.S. Bank's Elavon business, but not enough to overcome the lure of a high-level executive role at Total System Services, a company rapidly transitioning into a new age of digital payments.

LendKey, which manages online lending programs for banks and credit unions, has named Salil Mehta to senior vice president of credit risk and analytics.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is taking aim at marketplace lenders, announcing Monday that it is accepting complaints about the developing industry and releasing a bulletin to inform the public about such firms.

Atlanta is flush with payment processors that handle more than 70% of the nation's transactions. These players now plan to expand their reach even further, hoping to make the southern city a fintech hub to rival Silicon Valley and New York.

Putting bank venture clearXchange's push for real-time person-to-person payments in motion, U.S. Bank says it is one of the first to make the service available to its customers.

The payments industry changes fast, and a business model that was viable just two years ago may be obsolete today. Some companies are making major updates to their strategies to stay ahead of these developments.