Disruptors

Barclays has experimented with a number of mobile, wearable and online payment systems in its quest to bring its payment offerings into the modern age. Through its tests and live deployments of new technology around the world, the London-based issuer has learned how to entice consumers to move beyond plastic cards.

In the banking world, branches came first and ATMs came later to streamline the experience. But in the Bitcoin world, ATMs came first with limited features, and the ATM makers are working hard to add the sort of services that one might find in a mainstream bank branch.

The launch of Android Wear, Google's platform for smartwatches, has opened the floodgates for new payment ideas. Some developers are flocking to Google's platform, and others are ignoring Google entirely.

The payment capabilities in the new Fire Phone are just the latest in a series of products that only Amazon could pull off. The e-commerce giant's offerings range from basic services to its own digital currency.

Amazon.com Inc.'s Fire Phone, unveiled today, has a button that blends mobile purchasing with real-world shopping.

Even though Bitcoin merchant processor BitPay is not required to maintain an anti-money laundering (AML) program, the startup maintains one and is beefing it up with the hiring of former Visa executive Tim Byun.

While there is much attention on mobile payments at the point of sale, several companies are working on mobile payments for commuting, parking and other scenarios where a mobile app could replace a paper ticket or fare card. But it hasn't always been a smooth ride for these new technologies.

While banks struggle to get consumers to use Near Field Communication-enabled phones for mobile payments, the video game industry is having blockbuster success with NFC technology.

PayPal President David Marcus is leaving the eBay unit to lead Facebook's messaging products.

Square's new Order app allows consumers to order and pay at Square merchants before arriving at a merchant's store. The process for ordering is different for each merchant, based on the level of information they provide to Square.

The two most popular Bitcoin services providers, Coinbase and BitPay, are neck-and-neck in signing up merchants to accept digital currency.

About 25,000 people around the world are being paid in Bitcoin on a regular basis by posting content on Women's Annex, a blogging platform predominantly focused on Afghanistan, and its parent site Film Annex.

Apple is fine-tuning its mobile purchasing capabilities, adding parental controls and voice commands to digital content purchases and extending its TouchID fingerprint authentication system to third-party developers.

Apple has never built an iPhone capable of making Near Field Communication payments, but we know it has been studying the technology closely for years. With its Worldwide Developers Conference taking place this week, Apple may soon reveal what it's been working on.

Square, which built its business on the simplicity of its plug-in payment device, is piling on services that should make banks and other companies take notice.

Square has launched Square Capital, a credit program for small business, joining a growing number of companies breaking into small-business lending.

Since its formal launch, Isis has very aggressively marketed its mobile wallet. The venture of AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile has offered numerous freebies and statement credits to anyone willing to try it out, and recent figures show that these efforts may be paying off.

Square has added and removed many features over its few short years as it refines its mobile-pay pitch in an effort to win more merchants. Its removal of the Square Wallet app was the latest of many revisions to the company's strategy.

Loyalty programs can be a challenge because in Brazil's anti-coupon culture. Pizza Hut is overcoming this hurdle with a combined loyalty and prepaid card.

The promise of Bitcoin is to never have to trust anyone, but one of the field's most prominent startups wants to let its users reach out and touch someone.