Online 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.

At first blush, the new Visa Checkout looks a little too similar to the V.me digital wallet it replaces. But in nearly every aspect of redesigning the product, Visa found some excess baggage that needed to go.

Facebook is testing a feature that will let users shop directly from its website.

MasterCard will add support for in-app purchasing to its MasterPass digital wallet next month, and has already signed up customers to deploy the feature.

eBay's two most "extraordinary events" from the first half of the year were a now-resolved conflict with activist investor Carl Icahn and a cyber-attack that created financial headwinds. It is not yet actively searching for a new PayPal president.

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.

Payza is adding new features with the goal of helping merchants improve their conversion rates.

WorldRemit is targeting mobile wallets in emerging markets in a bid to eventually set a standard for international mobile money transfers.

Visa has made an investment in digital transaction company DocuSign, giving the card network closer ties to a suite of technology that automates payments documents.

As Square's competitors pile on features to win business from the mobile payments pioneer, the company may be seeking to one-up its rivals by adding non-payment services.

The alternative payments provider Dwolla insists that regulating Internet traffic will hurt startups, and it is among a group of companies that will argue this point before the Federal Communications Commission on July 15.

Visa has partnered with international e-commerce company Borderfree to promote shopping at U.S. merchants by customers in the Middle East, extending a partnership that began last year with a focus on Southeast Asia.

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.

Oink is partnering with Optimal Payments to provide an payments option for products purchased online.

In Ireland, credit unions are speeding up the launch of their electronic payment alternatives and working with Visa and MasterCard to offer debit cards to compete more aggressively with local banks.

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.

Facebook has expanded its relationship with payments provider Braintree, which is part of eBay's PayPal, to power a program for mobile application developers.

Virtual credit cards, which have struggled with adoption in other regions, are picking up steam in India as a means to combat online fraud.

JCB plans to expand its current J/Speedy contactless card technology to allow Japanese consumers to make cross-border payments with EMV-chip cards or through smartphones and wearable devices.