Disruptors

With the government cracking down on digital currency players such as Liberty Reserve and Mt. Gox, many ask whether it's a move to squash the development of virtual currencies and what action the government will take next.

As EMV-chip cards spread, with most U.S. merchants expected to accept the card by October 2015, there is still a major hurdle to overcome as consumers either resist the change or remain oblivious to it.

Zipmark, a company that allows businesses to send and receive digital checks, is working with the processor Vantiv Inc., potentially bringing more than 400,000 merchant relationships to Zipmark's money transfer platform.

Blackhawk Network Inc. is working with Monitise PLC to enable U.S. consumers to purchase gift cards on their smartphones through their financial institution's mobile banking site.

Liberty Reserve provided a service that had a true market demand from legitimate business sectors and from non-criminals, notwithstanding the government’s claim that “virtually all” its business was illicit. If banks and traditional financial institutions still respected basic client privacy and facilitated some form of digital payments that did not always involve harmful reversibility to the merchants, then companies like Liberty Reserve wouldn't even be necessary.

I-Free is offering a number of contactless payment services in Russia, including a mobile wallet that allows the remote issuance and download of mobile MasterCard PayPass cards, transportation fare services and geolocation-based coupons.

Believe.in, a U.K. company that provides technology for accepting donations online, has a no-fee structure that allows charities to receive donations using technology from Stripe.

BlueSnap is among a growing number of vendors offering to manage the complex programming needs of emerging payments systems on behalf of other companies.

Natural Security SAS hopes North America will be as receptive to its biometric payment authentication system as France is.

Slyce pictures a day when consumers will be able to buy anything depicted in a TV or printed advertisement — or even a product seen in person — by snapping a photo of it with their mobile device.

A new Facebook app from Citi suggests which concerts people may like based on their profile data.

The threat posed by Google's new Gmail money transmission feature will put the onus on banks to deliver the ultimate person-to-person payments experience, which only they can provide.

It's hard to build and maintain a false persona on social networks, and that's what makes sites like Facebook and Twitter such useful tools for controlling risk, says John Canfield, WePay's new vice president of risk management.

Mobile payments provider Fortumo Ltd. landed a major European carrier-billing deal last week, less than a month after revealing a significant partnership with Microsoft for mobile payment development on Windows phones.

DataCash, a MasterCard payments processing subsidiary, and Redecard will partner to sell electronic commerce products to merchants in Brazil.

LevelUp has made constant changes to its mobile-payments technology as it has aggressively spread its system to new consumers and merchants alike. Today, it is in the process of eliminating issues by replacing its older systems and is promoting a white-label app to appeal to more merchants.

Mercedes-Benz has a new account management app, My MBFS (Mercedes-Benz Financial Services), for motorists to use within their vehicles to review and pay auto loan and lease statements.

CardSpring and VeriFone Systems Inc. allow consumers' credit and debit cards to act as loyalty cards for redeeming digital coupons.

Visa issuers have put 3.5 million chip-based smart cards in the hands of U.S. consumers since the card brand announced its EMV-card migration roadmap in August of 2011, a Visa executive says.

Starbucks attributes the widespread use of its mobile payments app to a "seismic change" in how consumers use mobile phones and social media. The company expects a further surge in adoption as its rewards system expands to grocery stores.