Disruptors

EBay's planned spinoff of PayPal, announced today, is a necessary and inevitable response to the influx of disruption coming to the payments industry from unconventional sources. As companies like Amazon.com, Apple and Wal-Mart take a growing interest in the payments market, PayPal's status as a unit of a rival e-commerce company limited its role.

Wal-Mart is both a powerhouse in retail and a pioneer in financial services. The company has championed numerous initiatives in prepaid and mobile payments, and it has also been quick to push back on technologies it does not like.

PayPal is going slow when it comes to Bitcoin, limiting its current focus to emerging channels and relying on partnerships with virtual-currency processors in North America.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s deal to distribute Green Dot Corp.'s mobile checking account, GoBank, signals a fundamental change in how both companies approach their audience.

Apple Pay isn't yet on phones, but many companies in the financial services industry have already changed their strategies to respond to it. Some are on board with Apple's new mobile wallet, but others are firmly against it.

Apple's long-anticipated move into mobile payments seemed to cover all the bases — Apple Pay will launch with the support of major banks, card networks and retailers. But there were several things that didn't make it into the first version of its mobile wallet.

"What you are seeing is a company like Apple, representing 40 percent of operating system penetration, helping introduce [tokenization] for us in a way that consumers will find comfortable and easy to adopt," said Matthew Dill, Visa's senior vice president and head of innovation and strategic partnerships.

The vision that Apple’s founder Steve Jobs once had of a new type of mobile phone that could become so instrumental and integrated into people’s lives that they’d rather leave their wallet at home than their iPhone is starting to take shape.

The banks involved in Apple's mobile payment platform cite the enhanced security, intuitive user experience and brand name. Even if they sacrifice fees, they could make it up on volume.

Apple has officially unveiled Apple Pay, a new mobile payment system in its upcoming line of smartphones and its smartwatch, using a model that involves legacy payment companies but adds a new spin.

The unveiling of the next iPhone is imminent, and with it Apple is expected to announce plans for a mobile payment system with the support of the major card networks, retailers and banks. But what, exactly, would go into such a system?

The telco-driven Isis mobile wallet will now be called Softcard, a name chosen to avoid confusion and association with a militant group in the Middle East that is often referred to as "ISIS."

For Apple, the timing couldn't be worse to launch a mobile wallet. Mobile wallets can be a tough sell for many consumers, and brand image is a key element in winning their trust.

Beer and wine are often used to lower inhibitions about anything new. Why should payment technology be any different? Many companies that manufacture or sell alcohol are at the forefront of payments innovation.

Square Cash, a person-to-person payment service Square launched in October 2013, has been redesigned to become more useful as an app-based product.

As payment technology pushes into the future, innovators are coming up with unexpected ways to pay. Whether this means attaching technology to animals or sewing it into our clothing, many of these products are a leap beyond the ordinary payment card.

Almare Gelato Italiano accepts many alternative payment methods, and hasn't paid a dime for them because its vendors want a taste of the foot traffic at store's prime location in downtown Berkeley, Calif.

Braintree and PayPal are testing an integrated mobile payments feature, delivering on the company's promise to integrate technology from Braintree's Venmo unit.

Square is under pressure to adapt to the onslaught of competition from the likes of Amazon, PayPal, Groupon and Fiserv, all of which have applied their own spin to the mobile card reader concept. Square has recently made a number of moves to improve its offerings and its image.

As banks flee the deposit advance business, startups are offering services that let consumers name their payday and collect what they have earned up to that point, regardless of the day of the week.