Disruptors

BitPremier plans to broker luxury items like condos, jewelry and designer watches exclusively via the digital currency bitcoin. Behind the venture is SecondMarket CEO Barry Silbert.

An app store launched by Alpha Payments Cloud will allow merchants and financial institutions to build and purchase the various components of its payments technology stack.

Square has hired retail, consumer product and payments veteran Alex Petrov to be its vice president of partnerships.

With a new round of funding, Des Moines, Iowa-based alternative payments company Dwolla plans to add to its headcount in Iowa and New York and expand to San Francisco.

Payments companies are becoming increasingly interested in acquiring companies outside the industry as a way to stay relevant in a competitive market.

Heartland Payment Systems Inc.'s executive chairman and CEO, Robert Carr, leaves little doubt as to where he sees his company's mobile pay future heading — attached to the wagon of mobile-payment pioneers such as LevelUp.

eServGlobal plans to extend use of its mobile money technology into markets in the Middle East and Africa.

Discover has signed contracts with 50 merchant acquirers to enable PayPal's in-store payment system to pass 2 million merchant locations by the end of 2013, the card brand said.

Nintendo built a Near Field Communication chip into the tablet-like controller of the Wii U game console it launched late last year, and the video-game giant says it is now considering using that chip for payments.

Taxicab drivers and their passengers will soon be able to test new mobile hailing and payment systems, following the launch of an e-hailing pilot program and updates to New York City’s regulations for in-car payment terminals.

A payments startup that ignores Bitcoin in its strategic plan is like a publisher ignoring the Web in 1999.

Nacha's Janet Estep has just finished one of the biggest weeks of the year for the association—one that included heavy advocacy for automated clearing house payments at Nacha's Payments 2013 conference.

As mobile payments companies seek a receptive audience, many are turning their attention to restaurants. And the food industry, in turn, is increasingly receptive to putting mobile payments on their menu.

Rewarder's a startup that works in reverse of most online markets — it facilitates payments for buyers who are willing to pay for a unique expertise.

SumUp, a London-based company that allows merchants to accept card payments on their smartphones, will enable iPad acceptance through a partnership with Revel Systems.

Francoise Brougher, a former Google and Charles Schwab executive, is Square's new business lead.

Payvia Inc.'s newest clients — Skype, OnCam and Bright — demonstrate a growing appetite for charging payments to consumers' phone bills.

People — and payment companies — are starting to take Bitcoin seriously.The decentralized virtual currency is overcoming its stigma as a fringe currency for illegal transactions and is stirring up consumer scrutiny of the practices of large payment providers. The payments industry is changing rapidly, but today the movement isn't about payments — it's about data.