Disruptors

Even though Apple Pay hasn't yet launched in the U.K., experts in the EMV-compliant nation are eager to bring over Apple's mobile wallet to improve card-not-present security.

The ATM is one of the oldest self-service technologies in banking, and mobile is one of the newest. But surprisingly, this odd couple of technologies has a lot of synergy.

Merchant acquirers can learn a lot from their new competitors about how to stand out in a crowd where everybody appears to be the same.

Retailers are adopting many innovations to counter the lure of online shopping, which is becoming more of a threat to brick-and-mortar stores as e-commerce spreads to a growing number of Internet-connected devices.

Banks in Europe are selling digital gift cards alongside traditional bank accounts, allowing online consumers to buy credit for Facebook, Nintendo, Spotify and other content providers.

Wirecard, an electronic payments company based in Germany, has partnered with Bank Mega to provide retailer Carrefour Indonesia with point of sale technology.

Even is building a mobile money-management service for baristas, Lyft drivers, freelancers and others with unpredictable incomes. For $5 a week, users can draw advances on paychecks during rough patches.

The extended leave of Starbucks' chief operating officer, Troy Alstead, could indicate that last year's creation of the COO post has succeeded in furthering the coffee chain's mobile payments initiatives.

One of the clearest things that sets Apple Pay apart from other mobile wallets is its incorporation of Touch ID fingerprint recognition. Now that Apple has opened up Touch ID to outside developers, the fingerprint tech is spreading throughout — and in some cases beyond — Apple's ecosystem.

Traditional merchant acquirers have faced disruption from a number of new entrants in recent years from companies such as Square and its peers. And now, a football team is getting into the game.

Apple's reputation as a negotiator is rather simple—it doesn't negotiate. But Strategic Resource Management, a negotiation company with 200 clients in financial services, contends issuers and merchants have a chance to win more favorable terms with Apple.

Video tellers are being touted as a way for banks to increase efficiencies and cut costs while also giving customers the human interaction they desire, but some argue that speed is more important than seeing a friendly face.

Though Amazon.com's Fire Phone sputtered out as soon as it launched, the company has built a solid foundation in mobile payments that will fuel its next big moves in 2015.

The payments industry is quickly adapting to new technology, new regulations and new consumer demands. Here are 15 of the industry's major transformations already in progress.

To say the Softcard mobile wallet had an interesting year would be an understatement. By the end of 2014, it had a new name and a new competitor: the formidable Apple Pay.

Apple Pay's October debut was arguably the biggest story in mobile payments in 2014. But it's only the prologue of a larger conflict set to heat up in the year ahead.

The digital currency movement is headed into 2015 still looking for a "killer app" to pull Bitcoin out of obscurity. Mixing Bitcoin's technology with the virality of social media could be the winning ticket.

Biz2Credit, an online lending marketplace geared toward small businesses, has received a $250 million investment capital agreement from Direct Lending Investments, a fund that purchases small business loans through online and peer-to-peer lending platforms.

Square is committed to its diversification strategy, furthering its transformation from a simple mobile point of sale provider to a company that also handles small-business loans, marketing and e-commerce.

2014 was a big year for payments. Disruption came from within the financial services industry and from outsiders like Apple and Walmart. Mainstream payment companies had to respond to these new competitors as well as adapt to fresh attention from regulators and fraudsters.