Online payments

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.

MasterCard has added Lulu Hypermarket and Auchan Italy to fundraising efforts tied to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP).

Wired is deploying MasterCard technology that is designed to allow readers to purchase items directly from advertising and editorial content.

Ukash provides its online payments services in 55 countries with more than 420,000 locations worldwide. But it has so far steered clear of the U.S.

First Data's OfferWise platform, which allows consumers to obtain discounts linked to a pre-enrolled payment card, is now linked to Microsoft's Bing search engine.

Online payment provider BlueSnap will provide its global payments gateway software to Voxy, a New York-based company that offers language-learning courses online and through smartphones.

Visa, MasterCard and American Express introduced a proposed framework for new global standards that would replace traditional account numbers with a digital payment "token" for online and mobile transactions.

PCI services and merchant intelligence provider Sysnet Global Solutions is working with iScan Online, which specializes in security scanning of devices, to provide acquirers with new mobile security.

The PCI council continues to expand its reach, with the intent of remaining a strong guide for data security well into the future.

PayPal's $800 million deal to buy the payments processor Braintree fuels a fast-paced acquisition streak that has granted PayPal some of most disruptive technology — and people — in the payments industry.

CardSpring has launched CardSpring Connect, bringing marketing tools and online performance tracking to its local business clients and enabling them to create online-to-offline promotions.