As digital wallet strategies begin to fall into place for more large banks, many smaller banks are feeling the pressure to develop apps of their own.

Barclays threw out security questions for telephone banking access this week and began using voice recognition technology, representing a step in an industry-wide move to eliminate passwords and challenge questions.

Prague-based CSOB has launched the first mobile wallet for Near Field Communication-based mobile payments in the Czech Republic—already a bastion of contactless payments—with plans for e-commerce payments down the road.

Wells Fargo's embrace of Near Field Communication technology is rapidly approaching at least one milestone — a customer experience that does not require a card to use an ATM or pay in a store.

Swedish mobile payments company Seamless has steadily diversified the range of contactless payment technologies it supports in the hopes that it will be able to provide an entry-level platform for any financial institution's mobile wallet strategy.

India-based rail line Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp. (IRCTC) and mobile payments company Mobikwik have added a feature enabling passengers to order and purchase food that’s delivered directly to trains along the route.

Few companies can claim to have created a wildly successful mobile wallet app. Even fewer can claim to have done it twice in a row.

More mobile wallet consortiums failed last month, with two folding in New Zealand and Canada, escalating doubts about the prospects for cooperation among competitors in mobile payments.

DMI Inc., a mobile technologies software developer based in Bethesda, Md., has announced a collaboration with Cambodia-based mobile banking provider Wing for a mobile app enabling consumer and commercial funds transfers within the country.

Many times, bitter rivals must set aside their differences for the common good. This has happened a lot in recent years as the payments industry adjusts to the fast pace of innovation.

HSBC may seem like an enthusiastic supporter of third-party wallets, taking the rare step of supporting Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay. But these partnerships may prove to be mere stepping stones for a much bigger mobile strategy.

Payment Data Systems (PDS), a San Antonio, Texas-based payment solutions provider, has introduced a streamlined approach for mobile app developers to enable payment acceptance from all Apple Inc. mobile devices.

There may be bumps along the way, but PayPal, Mastercard and Visa all share the same goal, according to Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga.

Seven months after disclosing a test enabling Venmo P-to-P users to buy goods and services in-app, the PayPal unit has rolled out the "Pay with Venmo" feature to all users and expanded the list of participating merchants.

Apple plans to enable Apple Pay on its Safari Web browser by this fall, enabling users to make purchases directly from websites, but its vision for taking Apple Pay to the Web does not seem to extend much further.

International payment services provider Planet Payment and South Africa’s Absa Bank are expanding availability of Planet Payment’s Multi-Currency Pricing Solution through a new partnership with Xpressa, a Johannesburg-based company offering online and point of sale payment solutions.

Mastercard has announced a partnership with Singapore’s mass-transit agency, Land Transport Authority (LTA), for a contactless payment pilot, marking the first example in Asia of a transit system enabling open-loop payments, Mastercard said.

A year from now, Sionic Mobile will have distributed 100,000 free iBeacons to small businesses, a $1 million marketing play the company hopes secures its place among local stores as they start to adopt mobile technologies.

Now that Verizon has nailed down a deal to buy Yahoo's search and advertising business, it's starting to look a lot more like Google — and it might even have the tools to take a second stab at the payments industry.

For retailers at least, the most important screens are now the small ones.