Mobile payments

For much of the past few years, U.K. railroad systems have been using smartphones to display tickets as bar codes or other forms of digital fares.

In markets such as Africa there's a huge market for mobile payments, but a regulatory environment that has not caught up

U.K. supermarket giant Tesco has long supported Apple Pay at its contactless-enabled checkout locations, and now it also supports mobile payments through a proprietary app it’s rolled out to its nearly 7,000 stores.

Kenya Commercial Bank is working with Visa to bring the first mobile payment solution to its customers in East Africa that utilizes a quick-response code for e-commerce and in-store transactions.

The e-commerce company is expanding the buy buttons from one-off buttons used in the home to order items like soap or toilet paper.

The deployment comes as Singapore is in the midst of a broad digital initiative for the entire city.

The parent of Alipay is also investigating uses for biometrics and artificial intelligence.

Rather than killing off the plastic card, smartphones are strengthening it. Many issuers' card accounts are more valuable than ever, with perks made possible only through the development of smartphone apps.

As payments become "invisible," easier execution will also make transactions more safe and power marketing programs

German car maker Daimler AG has acquired PayCash Europe SA as part of its plans for a broad range of new vehicle-related mobile payment services dubbed “Mercedes Pay," in the latest deal linking automobile manufacturers with payment providers.