Online payments

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) wants to drastically boost membership in its loyalty program, a move that will necessitate going well beyond its typical geographic and demographic boundaries.

The alternative payment provider Dwolla has launched a credit-based instant payments capability, built on partnerships with banks and credit unions.

The coveted "Millennial" generation of consumers ages 18 to 34 is central to the success of any new payments technology – but this group also has a wide range of financial goals that make it hard to target with a one-size-fits-all product.

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.

Although its third quarter net income dropped 7% year-over-year, Discover Financial Services remains confident in the opportunities it has invested in for the future.

Consumers are increasingly jumping form one channel to another when shopping and paying, pressuring issuers and other payment companies to simultaneously accommodate older plastic-card models alongside the Web and mobile commerce.

Wonga, a London-based provider of short-term loans, has purchased BillPay, a Berlin-based online payment and financing platform.

Visa and global e-commerce company Borderfree are offering free shipping from Borderfree's clients to Visa cardholders in Southeast Asia.

While digital initiatives take longer to show their effect in the company's revenue, American Express Co. is still making investments in emerging payments and prepaid cards.

Virtual Piggy will deploy Kount's fraud management technology to provide payments security.

At $12 billion in deposits, FirstBank narrowly misses being ranked among the top 50 banks. But it's rubbing shoulders with the top three as it becomes first non-founding member of the clearXchange person-to-person payments network.

There has been a flurry of activity in payments technology in recent days. But as the dust settles, it's becoming clear that some of the most disruptive products are coming from outside the payments industry.

The parent of Alipay.com Co., Chinese billionaire Jack Ma's online payments operator, will pay 1.18 billion yuan ($193 million) for a controlling stake in an asset manager as he expands investment in financial services.

Visa Europe has secured the services of Conferma to provide its issuing banks and payments partners with technology that can provide virtual account numbers for business travel customers.

The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) plans an electronic voucher program in Lebanon that will enable Syrian refugees to make MasterCard payments.

DataCash and Redecard are providing residents in Brazil with options for making payments with cross-border e-commerce retailers.

E-Commerce sales on the Visa network in the U.S. surpassed $1 billion 188 times during the first nine months of the 2013 (out of 273 total days), a 16% increase in volume over the same period last year, the card network reports.

Mobile payments startup Pokkt has raised $500,000 in its first round of funding, allowing the company to eye expansion from India to other regions of southeast Asia.

Virtual Piggy has become a Demandware Link technology partner, which enables the youth payment company to reach retailers in Demandware's network.

Amazon.com Inc.'s new "Login and Pay with Amazon" is designed to let merchants accept payments from online shoppers without requiring them to create a dedicated account.