Retailers

While the advent of the Internet offered the possibility of increased global connectivity, blockchain has the potential to take this advancement to the next level, writes Sergey Ponomarev, the CEO of SONM.

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

The heat will now be on card networks to reassure consumers of card security through other methods, during the ongoing barrage of data breaches that could undermine consumers’ confidence in cards.

Square has been adding myriad services as it seeks to become a full-service merchant gateway.

First Data posts an acquisition release in error, though it may eventually buy the company.

On selected billing dates, Qualpay will automatically charge customers on an assigned plan and provide reports of the transaction activity.

Appliances, wearables, vehicles and other machines may deliver information directly to a blockchain that would validate personal and device identity.

The problem could be even worse this year, thanks to a new round of consumer data breaches, including the huge Equifax breach that exposed protected data on more than 145 million Americans, writes Rafael, executive vice president at ClearSale.

While many consumers are indeed adding smartphone-driven digital pay and mobile order and pay options into their payments toolbox, cash continues to resonate with American consumers, who show little interest in being "all in" with cashless, or having their choices limited in any way, writes Brian Bailey, managing director of North America for Cardtronics.

Diebold Nixdorf is a well-known provider of ATMs, but in an increasingly cashless economy it needs to apply its expertise in new ways.