Disruptors

Square has long enjoyed the first-mover advantage that came with democratizing payment acceptance. But as the payments industry advanced and Square's own needs became more complex, the company is more challenged than ever to stay relevant, even to the merchants who accept credit cards only because Square made it easy.

Apple Inc. grabbed the early worm in mobile payments with Apple Pay's late 2014 launch, combining an intuitive mobile payments system for consumers with the buy-in of major banks and merchants. But the tech giant’s first-mover advantage never seemed to materialize.

Of all the companies in the payments landscape, few have changed as much as PayPal has in the past year. And heading into the new year, the newly independent alternative payments company is showing no signs of slowing down.

The Internet of Things is ready to take off in modern retail in the coming year, spurred by a growing connection to consumer payments.

Uber has long taught that the best way to get consumers to pay with a mobile device is to make the payment almost invisible. Now, with the help of Facebook and Braintree, Uber is applying that philosophy to the rest of its business — and if Facebook has its way, other companies will again follow Uber's example.

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.

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.

Mobile payment users are still in short supply, and the growing range of options may be seen as too chaotic for consumers who haven't yet used a mobile wallet.

Apple is reportedly adding person-to-person payments to Apple Pay, based on technology from the bank-run clearXchange network. If this feature comes to market, it will face many competing systems that run on Apple's own handsets.

Amazon is constantly unleashing new payment-related products and services. Some efforts succeed, some fail and the rest are a mixed bag — but regardless of the outcome, retailers have a golden opportunity to learn from Amazon's experimentation.