PayPal is creating a new cyber-security center in Tel Aviv as part of its acquisition of Israeli security vendor CyActive.

Seeking a uniform process for card-not-present transactions in the Single Euro Payments Area throughout Europe, the European Payments Council has created a blueprint for an interoperable card and terminal infrastructure.

Few would dispute that the U.S. ought to move to a faster payment system. But the hurdles to modernizing the infrastructure are daunting, said participants in a panel at this week's Retail Banking 2015 conference.

Starbucks Corp. will expand its mobile- ordering service to four Western states, building on a test that lets customers in Portland, Oregon, transmit their requests for lattes and mochas before entering a store.

A lot of change in the payments business is unavoidable, such as EMV-chip cards and mobile commerce, so the high-tech card maker Stratos plans to replace its cards each year as part of a membership program.

It is fitting that Apple CEO Tim Cook opened the Apple Watch presentation by showing off a Mickey Mouse watch face. The Apple Watch shares a lot more than its design sense with Disney's successful MagicBand wearables.

Jeffrey Robinson is hardly a fan of Bitcoin (the title of his latest book, "BitCon," kind of gives it away.) But as the author of a classic 1990s book about money laundering, even he says that Bitcoin is a terrible tool for that particular crime, despite the digital currency's reputation. He explains why in the second part of a conversation with American Banker's Marc Hochstein.

Digital money transfer company Xoom is working with the bank HBL to enable instant deposits in more Pakistani bank accounts.

James Anderson, senior vice president of shared platform services in the emerging payments group at MasterCard, has been "droning on" for nearly a decade about contactless payments. And the industry is finally catching up.

The payments industry is changing fast. From the launch of Apple Pay to the march toward EMV, merchants, card networks, banks and consumers are rethinking their assumptions and expectations and this year’s honorees are not only navigating change, they are leading it.

"We can start by changing the conversation. It's not about the latest gadget or shiny object, instead it's about the impact this technology is having on consumers and businesses."

"Women have not reached the most senior levels as much as they should. This isn't specific to our industry; it's prevalent across the corporate world. It's difficult to pinpoint why – rather, it's likely a host of reasons."

"In a world that requires balance, you should not expect 100% of people or companies or constituents to be 100% pleased and happy."

"Whether you are a male or female, the most important thing is to always look at creating opportunities for yourself. You cannot wait for someone to think of you."

"At SVB, we consider disruption our friend. Disruptive innovation in payments has historically been more incremental compared to other sectors. But this sector is evolving…and fast."

"The time that we're in right now very much resembles, to me, the time that the Internet was exploding … there's so much going on."

"Today, payments companies are all around us.Retailers have come together to create a mobile payments company … and regional debit networks are expanding capabilities to support a wider variety of transactions to attempt to compete with traditional credit networks."

"The number of women that apply to join payments companies is still much lower than the number of men, and ... when you start your career and can't see anyone that looks or thinks like you at the top, this is not inspiring."

"[Our] efforts have helped eBay to more than double the number of women in leadership roles, as well as increase the share of leadership positions held by women in the last three years."

"Many of our clients are women, too, and there's a significant opportunity for females to change the face of this business. I took a hell of a risk when I left the security of a banking job to come to First Data…and I couldn't be happier."