Online payments

Newegg's recent acceptance of Bitcoin is just the latest of the online electronics retailer's many digital payment options. Its tech-savvy audience demands digital currency and digital wallets, and accommodating these needs is critical to Newegg's expansion into new markets.

London-based Payza now offers its online payment processing and eWallet services in the United States. Payza is currently used by over 10 million people worldwide as well as 75,000 merchants.

AsiaPay has integrated its payment offerings with Micros Systems to offer technology to the hotel sector in Asia.

Twitter appears to be preparing to add "Buy Now" buttons to tweets in a move to transform its microblogging service into an e-commerce platform.

Paysafecard is bringing its prepaid online payment service to Peru and Uruguay, providing those who may not have a bank account with an e-commerce shopping option.

Optimal Payments, a payments and risk management company based in London, is acquiring two online payment firms in an effort to expand its business in the U.S.

The U.S. would be at a clear disadvantage if its financial institutions fail to adopt the ISO 20022 standard, which many other regions use to handle electronic payments, the Federal Reserve Banks say.

The website hosting company GoDaddy built its first mobile and online payments service using APIs from PayPal, Dwolla and Stripe.

PayPal has at least temporarily shut off two-factor authentication for the PayPal mobile app after a security researcher found a way to bypass that second factor.

Stripe is partnering with China's Alipay online payments service to streamline checkout for consumers in China who make purchases from Stripe's merchant clients.

Castle Rock's water utility has successfully launched a wide range of socially-driven alternative marketing techniques to spark adoption of its automated billing options.

By combining their payment and personal financial management technologies, Payveris and Geezeo are working to help banks fight the threat of nonbanks becoming consumers' preferred financial destination.

The Brazilian unit of PayPal Inc. is seeking to buy competitors to expand its business in Latin America's biggest economy.

Spindle, a mobile commerce provider in Scottsdale, Ariz., has integrated its payment aggregation services with RisePay's merchant platform.

Walmart is testing a program that uses its mobile app, website and tracking technology to give back to customers who paid too much for something at the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer.

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.

EBay Inc. Chief Executive Officer John Donahoe will join Nike Inc.'s board, bringing e-commerce experience to a company that's increasingly looking for ways to use the Internet to boost sales.

Vend will integrate its payment system with QuickBooks Online, making it the second point of sale company this week (along with Flint) to tout a link to Intuit's accounting software.

Despite a name that makes it sound like a droid from "Star Wars," 2C2P has grown to be a serious contender in Southeast Asia's burgeoning alternative payments market.

To move the U.S. toward a faster electronic payments system, it may be necessary to design a completely new payments infrastructure.