It's impossible to predict the future, but many companies in the payments industry have already made commitments that will shape the year ahead. Here are a few things to expect in 2016.

Lawmakers are expected to debate a number of key banking provisions this year, even with the November elections on the horizon.

The heaviest adopters of fintech products in major global markets have a lot in common: They’re young, urban and tech-savvy, and their use of digital financial services tools could double in the next year, a study from by Ernst & Young Global Ltd suggests.

Bruce Fenton, executive director at the Bitcoin Foundation, opened its Dec. 15 board meeting with a sense of urgency: "We need additional funds if we wish to retain employees." The numbers didn't look good. In two years, the foundation had seen at least $7 million evaporate. As of Nov. 30, its total assets stood at $12,553.06.

Relations between banks and providers of personal financial management tools have soured of late amid reports that some banks block PFM sites' access to their customers' information during peak traffic periods. Aggregators say they are working to address banks' concerns, but they also are urging banks to invest in more server capacity to keep pace with customer demand.

Holiday shopping doesn’t stop after December 25. It goes beyond that as many consumers buy goods post-holiday as well, boosting sales even more.

Since the dawn of the modern mobile payments era, Starbucks has positioned itself as the poster child for how the technology can resonate with customers. And it's not about to rest on its laurels.

As small, digital donations propel insurgent candidates from Ted Cruz to Bernie Sanders in the U.S., one opposition party an ocean away is relying on old-fashioned pocket change to fuel its rise.

Nasdaq Inc. said it used blockchain technology to complete and record a private securities transaction for the first time, as the exchange operator seeks to pull ahead of a crowded sector that so far has offered more hype than reality.

Moving from a web-based mobile browser to an app and adding new functionality helped drive big gains in mobile adoption and usage.

Despite increased investment and development in the consumer payments space around mag stripe, EMV and contactless payments solutions, there is still a huge concern when it comes to data theft.

The holiday shopping season may be over, but that doesn’t mean that consumers will stop using their credit or debit cards in 2016.

Square has long enjoyed the first-mover advantage that came with democratizing payment acceptance. But as the payments industry advanced and Square's own needs became more complex, the company is more challenged than ever to stay relevant, even to the merchants who accept credit cards only because Square made it easy.

It's hard to come by hard data on consumers actually using mobile wallets to pay in stores, but these consumers do exist.

If dead men tell no tales, that makes identity theft of deceased account holders all the harder for card issuers to combat, particularly when the perpetrators are bank insiders.

Moscow-based startup Cardberry is planning to launch an app and device to streamline discount and loyalty cards.

Samsung plans to expand its Samsung Pay service to more phones in 2016, including its lower-priced models.

New technologies are allowing us to reimagine the entire customer payment experience.

The pimples and beauty marks of the mega-retailers’ CurrentC mobile wallet are on display for all to see during the app's ongoing beta test prior to its planned rollout next year.

The lowest-hanging fruit for payments efficiency is governments, which handle huge volumes of payments and generally lag private corporate payments in implementing automated processing.