We may also add examples of other innovative players such as Paybox (cross-channel payment platform), Payforit (used to purchase digital content online and donations to charity), Square (the free point-of -sale app), iZettle (iZettle’s card reader allows you to accept card payments in IOS or Android smartphone), Dwolla (a payment network that allows individuals and businesses to send and receive payments free with direct link to bank accounts), Klarna (an e-commerce firm that facilitates immediate payment to the consumer using only an email address; it delivers the quantity paid to the merchant later), Stripe (focused on prevention of technical fraud and banking infrastructure necessary for private customers and companies to accept payments over the internet), PaySimple (cloud based software that allows the appearance of new solutions such as those based on the IP of the e-commerce software platform) and SmartPay (prepaid card solution widely used in the Philippines where 75 % of the population is unbanked).

We can also observe also the English examples Paym and Zapp, the Dutch example iDeal and the Polish example Blik.

Paym is a mobile payment system provided by banks in the UK where recipients are identified by phone number instead of the bank account. It requires a single prior registration of membership and to download an app.

Zapp is a mobile payment system provided by banks in the UK which allows merchants to accept, via NFC or through a QRCode, a payment initiating from a banking app. This is a secure connection where transactions are validated through a token without the transmission of personal financial data to traders.

iDeal is a four-part payment system where consumers settle payments through their home banking, using for this purpose a specific e-mail link which generates a transfer to direct immediate SEPA credit (real-time).

Blik is a payment system provided by Polish banks in which the consumer can use the app available on her/his smartphone to make payments in stores or online, make withdrawals at ATMs or perform peer-to-peer transfers (P2P). It also allows the user to generate cheques that can be used later by email or SMS.

Many payment system solutions are developed in partnership with Banks or not, in order to facilitate payment that is to be increasingly invisible and at reduced cost.

New customer loyalty programs have also appeared, such as Revolution Card (USA), Edy (Japan) and Squid (UK).

What other alternative platforms emerge associated with payments and financial services? One cannot be indifferent to the new Prosper and Zopa financing systems.

Prosper Marketplace is a company based in California – San Francisco, in the peer-to-peer loan industry, where people can invest in personal loans or request money loans.

Zopa, “zone of possible agreement”, is one of the first peer-to-peer lending services, originating in England, which brings together people who have money to lend, and people who want to borrow money. Customers can be “creditors”, “debtors” or both.

Nor can we overlook the blockchain infrastructure (the “financial Uber”) associated with the encrypted digital currency. A cryptocurrency “is a means of exchange that uses encryption to ensure transactions and to control the creation of new units of currency.”

To ensure the transaction of digital currency (see article “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”, published in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto), a shared accounting system that omits the party that made the transaction was developed, which requires the reciprocal trust of those involved in the network but ensures that it cannot be performed a second time. Transactions are carried out in linear chronological form. Only the confirmed transactions are recorded and it is assured that the electronic currency has been acquired by the payer.