Disruptors

Amazon.com Inc. has launched a Square-like mobile card reader called Amazon Local Register, charging early adopters just 1.75% per swipe until the end of 2015.

Square Appointments, the company's latest fee-based product, is the first in its lineup that can be used by merchants who do not also use Square to accept payments.

As consumers warm to the idea of using their phones to make payments and manage accounts, they are flocking to merchant apps to do so. Instead of using one unified wallet, a shopper's phone may be stuffed with any of these payment-capable programs.

Wearable computing is suddenly in style. Only a few banks and payment companies offer wristbands, smartwatch apps or Google Glass technology, but those that do are getting valuable feedback from consumers.

Walt Disney Co.'s experiment in payment-capable wearables can probably be declared a success, with the company reporting that about half of Walt Disney World guests sport MagicBands.

MasterCard is putting its digital payment efforts in the spotlight. The Purchase, N.Y. card network is also adding to the number of non-payment services it offers to digitally focused companies.

If Capital One can lure a highly regarded expert like Dan Makoski from Google to head up the bank's payment technology development, it stands to reason other banks would do the same. Maybe. But it won't be easy, experts say.

Square plans to offer a version of its mobile card reader that can read EMV-chip cards, but the added security may come at a cost.

Westpac New Zealand plans to leverage mobile technology on several fronts in the coming year, powering contactless payments while maintaining more control over customer relationships than it would have if it signed on to a telco-led venture.

Apple has big plans for payments, but it's not outspoken about what they are. However, more of its behind-the-scenes efforts are starting to leak; these six reports came in just the past two months.

Mobile payments now account for over 15% of transactions in U.S. company-operated Starbucks stores, where the company accepts an average of six million mobile transactions every week. This is a sharp increase from a year ago.

Facebook, which hired PayPal president David Marcus to run its Messenger business last month, has shed some light on how Marcus' expertise will play a role.

Amazon has released a beta version of an Amazon Wallet App that is currently focused on shopping and discounts, though it could serve as a launch pad for mobile payments.

The newly rebranded Visa Checkout is the latest of the card network's attempts to create a more streamlined, digital payment process that moves past the plastic card. Visa and Visa Europe have embarked on many projects around the globe in recent years, targeting e-commerce, mobile payments, P2P and other use cases.

Twitter has agreed to buy CardSpring, a payments infrastructure company, to fuel the transformation of its service into a platform for online commerce.

Visa introduced a new digital payment system July 16 called Visa Checkout, replacing the V.me digital wallet that formally launched in 2012. The idea is to move away from the "digital wallet" concept and convey a message of simplicity.

Apple has launched an automated account loading feature in Japan, a product that eliminates the need for plastic gift cards and may signal the beginnings of a pure digital wallet.

What's in a name? Many payment companies have struggled with this question, finding out too late that the name they chose sent the wrong message or was rendered unusable by situations outside the brand's control.

Bitcoin enthusiasts are serious about Bitcoin merchant adoption, some might even say obsessed. But cryptocurrency nerds may find their obsession lucrative with BitPay's referral program.

If Seamless Distribution AB is going to pitch U.S. merchants on being able to duplicate the successful Starbucks mobile payment experience at their businesses, its new relationship with prepaid product provider InComm potentially provides a significant boost.