P-to-P payments

The iPhone X is a very different type of smartphone, shedding much of Apple's familiar hardware design and adding new, unproven features. Here are some of the ways the iPhone X is changing mobile payments.

In the U.S., Visa Direct has emerged as one of the few go-to tools for fast payments in a market that is overdue for such options. The product's true test begins now, as Visa launches it in Europe, where faster payments options are far more plentiful.

The customer interface is just the tip of the iceberg in fintech, says Wells Fargo's Secil Watson. Plus, the tech trends in business banking, a power shift on sexual harassment as women support each other, and Michelle Obama's advice on raising boys.

Startups and banks have watched for years as young consumers shifted from credit cards to debit cards to, finally, P-to-P apps. But what's driving that shift may not be what the providers intended.

Since Zelle's earliest days as the clearXchange network, the banks behind the P-to-P platform have promised that it could have a role in the business world. U.S. Bank has begun the next chapter by offering Disbursements via Zelle.

Three of Australia’s largest banks—Wespac, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and the National Australia Bank—have joined forces for a mobile wallet joint venture called Beem, with person-to-person payments as the first use case.

The bank-powered P-to-P app Zelle officially launched in June with a mostly consistent brand across all of its bank partners, but it still struggles with awareness over PayPal's Venmo, which doesn't share its advantage of living inside banks' mobile apps.

Steve Wozniak indicated that he'd like to see the Silicon Valley behemoth continue to partner with banks, rather than applying for its own charter.

Any bank using IBM for managing transactions and funneling payment processing onto a single platform will now have access and support for the Zelle person-to-person payment service.

Facebook Messenger now supports person-to-person payments and customer service for PayPal, expanding the funding choices for repaying friends and family and the channels available to PayPal users sending P-to-P payments.

PayPal's latest move has been expanding its Venmo service beyond peer-to-peer payments to a method for paying merchants directly.

The Federal Reserve Board governor sketched out a future in which U.S. banks remain at the center of commercial transactions.

Person-to-person payments are a core area of interest beyond just the banking industry. The news that PayPal is bringing Venmo into e-commerce should be serious concern for many companies that wanted a piece of the P-to-P pie. But Venmo's success does not necessitate others' failure.

With Apple’s WWDC, Zelle, PayPal’s Venmo and Square Cash, competition in the consumer payments space is about to kick into high gear, writes Josh Hawkins, vice president of marketing for the Boston-based digital payments company Circle.

Many bank-driven responses to fintech startups are "force fitting" traditional services, and don't fully meet new consumers' demands for social interaction, writes Ted Bissell, global director for digital consulting at Axis Corporate.

Following an antitrust review that lasted almost a year, the approval would appear to cement The Clearing House's status as the front-runner in a race to modernize the U.S. payments system.

After Equifax disclosed a devastating data breach, much of the attention focused on whether the company did everything it could in response. But the scary truth may be that this is the sort of incident that goes beyond a single company's ability to fix.

With the integration to Payveris’ platform complete, FedComp will turn to enhanced digital payments for its credit union clients.

iMessage funds will come from cards already stored in Apple's digital wallet, and the service will work with Siri, allowing payments via the personal assistant.

Alipay and WeChat Pay will force traditional payment networks to up their game, particularly in in-play emerging markets. Whether they can become relevant at scale for consumers outside China remains to be seen, writes Eric Grover, a principal at Intrepid Ventures.