A Singapore-based company last week announced the planned launched of a mobile-payment service that uses a card-reader device similar to the one offered by Square Inc. and other companies.

WASHINGTON–Congress on March 22 took its first cautious steps into mobile payments with a House hearing focused on security issues and prudent regulation for the rapidly evolving mobile market.

Venmo Inc. has lifted the “Invitation Only” sign off of its social mobile-payments application, hoping to expand quickly a person-to-person payment system that already accommodates as much as $10 million in transaction volume per month.

Malaysia is proceeding with a government-backed initiative that would let citizens pay for government services using their mobile phones and tablets.

The ways riders can pay–and play–inside New York taxicabs are expanding.

Maybe it’s the Ides of March for the mobile-payments industry.

Younger consumers have the keenest interest in banks’ mobile-payments services, but most adults overall still have cold feet when it comes to paying with their phones.

For small merchants who want to accept mobile transactions, Apple Inc. makes the go-to machines, the iPad and the iPhone.

The recent explosion of new mobile-payment initiatives, from new startups backed by heavy venture capital to formidable players such as PayPal Inc. is enough to give the average banker heartburn.

Visa Inc. and Intel have struck a strategic agreement to develop mobile commerce services for consumers, the companies announced this week.

Opera Software ASA doesn’t hold back in its pitch to provide more opportunities for mobile payments worldwide.

HDFC Bank Ltd.’s new mobile service could be a game-changer in India’s mobile-payments market, making such services cheaper and more widely accepted.

Bankers generally accept that providing mobile access to financial services is an inevitable part of their future. But when it comes to actually using the devices to communicate with customers about the bank, financial institutions are surprisingly behind the curve.

Hey, Visa and PayPal, pay attention here.

In a move Barclays Bank PLC hopes will make consumers wonder how they ever used to exchange funds with one another, the United Kingdom-based bank is making mobile funds transfers available to all UK bank accountholders through a free software application called Pingit.

Industry analysts have called 2012 a possible “breakthrough year” in the payments industry for Near Field Communication technology.

Intuit Inc. has added a new tablet-banking product for banks and credit unions.

USAA Federal Savings Bank traditionally has occupied an unusual position that almost requires it to be an early adopter of digital financial services. Its military-heavy customer base always is on the move and often in geographic circumstances that don’t allow multi-channel banking.

Consumers who caught on fast to the convenience of using their smartphone cameras to deposit checks remotely likely will be among the first to try a similar technology for paying monthly household bills.

Small banks already face a mobile-banking adoption deficit to their larger competitors, but some community institutions are still questioning the channel's safety, weighing emerging security threats against consumer expectations of new mobile banking services.