Users of the check-in service Foursquare now can automatically redeem deals offered by merchants on the social-media application using an enrolled American Express Co. card.

Billtrust has launched a mobile edition of its online billing and payment software, the company announced July 21.

Mobile-payments service provider ChamsMobile Ltd. soon will launch mobile funds-transfer services in Nigeria, enabling citizens there to make payments for retail purchases and receive remittances from overseas connections.

Mobile-payments service provider ChamsMobile Ltd. soon will launch mobile funds-transfer services in Nigeria, enabling citizens there to make payments for retail purchases and receive remittances from overseas connections.

The rise of online and mobile banking plus new regulatory pressure on debit card interchange are converging to spark explosive growth in credit and debit card merchant-funded loyalty programs, a new report suggests.

The announcement last week by several telecommunication companies of plans to create a joint venture to fast-track mobile-payments processing potentially has broad implications for the mobile-payments market in Europe. But the companies have worked together before with little resulting success.

Despite efforts by major card companies to promote the speed and excitement of using mobile phones to pay, it likely will take more than glitzy marketing to convince consumers to use such services, according to a Federal Reserve strategist.

Telefónica UK, Vodafone UK, and T-Mobile and Orange parent Everything Everywhere plan to form a joint venture in mobile marketing and payments, the companies announced June 16.

Intuit Inc. is among various vendors that could feel a shock from the emergence of Near Field Communication-powered mobile-payment schemes such as Google Wallet and Isis designed to eclipse banks’ existing, more-pedestrian offerings, such as online and mobile bank-account management.

First Data Corp. is working with mobile news network operator LSN Mobile Inc. to provide a mobile advertising and coupon system for merchants, the companies announced June 15.

The emerging U.S. mobile-payments market could be putting consumers at risk for fraud, and a consumer-advocacy group is urging wireless carriers to protect its customers from unauthorized transactions.

Starbucks Corp. finally has an official mobile payment offering for Android smartphones.

Verizon Wireless has brick-and-mortar mobile payments covered thanks to its participation in the Isis joint venture. But the company soon will give its wireless customers the option to charge online purchases directly to their mobile-phone bill.

The plethora of new mobile payment initiatives – the most recent being the mobile wallet project announced by Google, Citi, MasterCard, First Data and Sprint – can be confusing for banks. What mobile payment technologies make the most sense for a financial institution to offer? In a recent interview with Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance, he handicapped the three versions of near-field communication mobile payment technology that standards bodies have approved. [Near-field communication is a short-range wireless connectivity technology that enables short-range communication between electronic devices, and it’s the mechanism most companies are choosing to pursue mobile payments.] The differences between the three versions hinge on who controls the security of the mobile payments by controlling the “secure element” that stores cardholder credentials and account data and communicates with the apps.

Tyfone Inc. has received a patent for programming add-on smart cards in a mobile phone to function as a payment account.

The buzz around person-to-person payments has long been claimed by rival upstarts such as PayPal Inc., but banks are striking back, as evidenced by the ClearXChange consortium.

Barclaycard has retooled a contactless-payments television advertisement to feature use of a mobile phone to make payments in a move that could help to raise awareness of the technology in the United Kingdom. The ad first appeared June 4 during the finale of the popular television show “Britain’s Got Talent.”

China Merchants Bank Ltd. is partnering with social networking platform company Renren Inc. to issue a cobranded credit card in China, the bank announced June 13.

Charles Schwab Corp. customers with Android smartphones can now deposit checks into their bank and brokerage accounts.

Gift and loyalty services company SparkBase LLC is using $3 million in new funding to hasten the development and deployment of its technology platform and mobile services, which includes a smartphone application that enables consumers to quickly enroll in merchant-loyalty programs.