Mobile payments

PayPal and Barclays have formed a strategic partnership enabling Barclays customers in the U.K. and U.S. to manage their Barclays and PayPal accounts within each app.

Consumers enrolled in Denmark’s Dankort domestic payments scheme may sign up to make payments using only their finger in a pilot that the payments firm Nets is conducting in Copenhagen.

Apple has made moves to acknowledge Alipay's dominance in the market, such as partnering with Alibaba Financial affiliate Alibaba to accept Alipay payments in China's Apple stores.

As marijuana legalization spreads throughout the U.S. and the world, companies in the cannabis market must navigate a delicate tangle of new and old regulations. And many payment providers are unwilling to risk working with dispensaries, leading to some inventive workarounds.

Though financial institutions with online bill payment services still command the largest share of the bill payment market, it’s a category with many friction points ripe for disruption.

Refurbishing ATMs to accommodate mobile payments is less expensive than buying new ones, and is a solid green strategy, according to Mark D. Smith, director of business development for MVP Financial Equipment.

The bank-led P2P service Zelle is on track to move more than $100 billion at its first anniversary in June — a milestone that is at odds with overall consumer awareness of digital P2P options.

Mobile scan-and-go technology can redefine the in-store model for retailers by delivering the "just walk out" experience popularized by Amazon Go (and increasingly demanded by consumers) in a way that is viable, scalable and profitable, according to Julian Wallis, retail director at Rambus.

The cashierless Amazon Go concept is inspiring fear in traditional U.S. retailers, but the idea is already mainstream in China — with one chain opening 300 locations in just two years.

Whether the threat stems from technology or human nature, fraudsters are exploiting any opening they can.