Vendors’ smart card shipments could reach 7 billion next year, up 16.7% from 6 billion this year, fueled primarily by strong smart card growth in Latin America and China, vendor trade group Eurosmart announced Nov. 15 at the Cartes & IDentification conference in Paris.

The Central Bank of Nigeria reportedly is in talks with the Nigerian Postal Services to use of the bank’s branches as outposts to promote mobile payments.

The Reserve Bank of India has authorized the transferring of funds from ATMs to mobile phones as part of an expansion of the country’s Interbank Mobile Payment Service, India’s central bank announced Nov. 9.

More consumers are accessing their credit card accounts online, but only a small percentage are using mobile applications to do so, new research suggests.

With questions about mobile-wallet use at the point of sale centering on technology, security, payment accounts and software applications, banks should focus on pushing Near Field Communication development to ensure they play a vital role in the future of mobile payments, a new study suggests.

Alternative-payments providers such as PayPal Inc., ProPay Inc., Square Inc. and SparkBase Inc. may be better-positioned than traditional payment card networks to cause the marketplace disruption needed to make mobile payments more mainstream, an Aite Group analyst suggests in a new report.

PayPal Inc. plans to provide a mobile payments system that would enable Chinese game developers on the Android mobile platform to tap new international markets including North America and Europe, the company recently announced.

The burgeoning growth of mobile payments could become the tipping point for proposed national legislation that would force merchants to charge state sales taxes for the first time on many goods and services sold through online channels, a national tax expert tells PaymentsSource.

U.S. consumer interest in using mobile phones to make purchases and in receiving incentives and coupons to shop at retailers has doubled since last year, new research suggests.

After analyzing the mobile-banking offerings of the top 25 retail banks by deposits, Javelin Strategy & Research has declared that JPMorgan Chase & Co. has the best, followed closely by Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America Corp.

Continuing a trend that started last summer, Dwolla Corp. has added two more credit unions that will offer customers easier access to Dwolla mobile-payment accounts through their online-banking programs, the mobile-pay startup announced Nov. 8.

Mobile Money Network has landed a major retailer to participate in the initial phase of a mobile-payment software application launch that will enable United Kingdom consumers to purchase products for home delivery from any location by typing a product code into their phones, the London-based mobile commerce company announced Nov. 4.

PayPal Inc. has delivered on its promise to activate contactless payments for its mobile wallet.

LAS VEGAS—Established payment card networks are well-positioned to continue generating profits over the long haul, as long as they continue adapting to changing payments technology, a panel of investment industry analysts told attendees Nov. 3 at the ATM, Debit & Prepaid Forum. But Near Field Communication-based mobile payments and mobile wallets might fall short of expectations, the analysts suggested.

Emphasizing a mobile-payment method that translates to an enhanced shopping experience for consumers, AisleBuyer LLC has added a New England supermarket chain that will offer its “virtual checkout” application, the Boston-based mobile commerce provider announced Nov. 7.

Square Inc. continues to secure investors, and the latest one is bringing a lance to the table.

Accertify Inc. will add its fraud-prevention program to the mobile-banking offerings of several Latin American banks after signing an agreement with payment processor Tik Tek Solutions, S. de R.L. de C.V, the fraud-prevention and risk-management provider announced Nov. 7.

Intuit Inc. has secured another partnership with a telecommunication company to sell its GoPayment software application and card reader.

The global point-of-sale payment terminal market is enjoying a technology boom as manufacturers peering just over the horizon see rampant demand for in-store devices that can accommodate both contactless payments and card transactions authenticated by EMV chip-and-PIN security protocols.

PayPal Inc., a pioneer in alternative online payments, is seeking to stake a new claim in the burgeoning and increasingly congested mobile-payments space, and what sets it apart may be an acquisition that occurred three years ago.