Disruptors

This month, Microsoft and Sony are launching new machines with a whole new take on games, movies — and payments. And they're not the only ones applying video game strategies to the payments industry.

Merchants labeled high-risk often have trouble finding processors willing to work with them, but they may have better luck if they adopt a digital currency designed to prohibit chargebacks.

The Twitter initial public offering culminated with the ringing of the New York Stock Exchange's opening bell Thursday, the social media site becoming a public company valued at more than $14 billion. But Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey isn't done with Wall Street yet, as he's reportedly begun exploring an IPO for Square, the mobile payments startup he co-founded in 2009.

Square Inc.'s new partnership with Staples treats the office supply seller as both a distribution channel and a showroom for its Square Stand point of sale system.

Citibank Hong Kong and wireless carrier 3 Hong Kong are jointly launching the 3 Citi Wallet, which was designed for Hong Kong, but establishes a technology Citi can export to other regions.

Apple, Google, Samsung and others are making changes to the way their phones handle payments. Some of these changes remove restrictions on Near Field Communication payments, whereas others take mobile technology in an entirely different direction.

Visa Inc. has partnered with Blue Label Mexico to bring electronic payments to hundreds of thousands of small merchants.

Starbucks Corp. reports that it receives 11% of its U.S. and Canadian sales through its mobile app, continuing its momentum in enticing customers to pay with the mobile version of its closed-loop Starbucks Card.

Isis and Google have been very publicly testing their mobile wallets, exposing the developing technology to harsh scrutiny, and both companies say their hardships are about to pay off.

PayPal, having long ago charted the state-by-state regulatory waters for U.S. payments companies, is urging a reform to the rules in an effort that could ultimately help other players in its market.

The payments industry is facing pressure from outside companies that are toppling many preconceptions about how payments should work. But industry veterans are fighting back, and they shared their strategies at SourceMedia's 2013 ATM, Debit & Prepaid Forum.

LevelUp is launching a "connected app" technology that lets merchants tap into its mobile payment system for online commerce and a variety of other uses.

As the market for prepaid cards expands and diversifies, many companies are experimenting to see what works — and in the process, they are learning that a product-based mindset could hold them back.

Consumers continue to view their banks as a trusted payments provider, but they view PayPal Inc. as the nonbank to trust the most.

Paychex and Biz2Credit have teamed up to offer an online loan resource center that gives small-business owners access to capital from more than 1,200 lenders.

As Fexco and First Data demonstrated their futuristic ATM concept, they emphasized that the bank is at the heart of the offering. And as Lamassu demonstrated a similar device for bitcoin users, a very different message came across.

OnBudget seeks to build customer retention for prepaid cards by incorporating personal financial management tools that digitize a budgeting system popular among consumers.

Visa and MasterCard have aggressively worked to establish their V.me and MasterPass wallets since launching both products within the past year, and both companies are trying to learn from their past efforts in e-payments.

Online investment management service Betterment LLC will acquire ImpulseSave, a startup that designs software meant to encourage people to save.

Square's new P2P service, Square Cash, is meant to be so straightforward that you don't need an app to use it — but Square published an app anyway. The Square Cash app joins a growing suite of Square apps for merchants and consumers.