The opportunity to capitalize on the explosive growth in payments as the industry steadily moves to electronic and mobile platforms is attracting many new players and business models, but the winners ultimately will be those who can leverage payments on a massive scale, according to Citigroup Inc.’s top enterprise executive.

Visa Inc. has invested an undisclosed amount of money in Square Inc., the start-up company that lets merchants accept card payments through a small square-shaped device that plugs into smartphones.

Existing payments-industry giants are at risk of becoming obsolete if they do not begin experimenting soon with new payments technologies and finding innovative partnerships to meet the changing marketplace demands, according to Dan Schulman, group president for enterprise growth at American Express Co.

American Express Co. is hitting the streets in Eugene, Ore., to promote Serve, its digital wallet for those consumers who are turned off by the elite branding of its main product line.

Square Inc. is making its smartphone magnetic stripe card reader available through Apple Inc.’s stores and website, but the move has left one observer unimpressed.

Many banks' mobile strategies have hinged on getting smartphone applications to market as fast as possible, but now the early adopters are moving on to the next step — making sure those apps live up to consumers' expectations.

Visa Inc. is working with clothing retailer Gap Inc. to deliver discounts to cardholders via mobile phone SMS text messages.

Payment-terminal software applications are poised to play a significant role in the Near Field Communication payment ecosystem.

The Republic of Botswana’s First National Bank has launched a mobile wallet for its customers in the African country, a spokesperson for the bank tells PaymentsSource.

Merchant processor WorldPay is reselling mobile-payments technology from vendor CellPoint Mobile that will allow clients’ customers to conduct transactions in several ways.

Finnish handset maker Nokia Corp. is working with Near Field Communication technology developer Proxama Ltd. to develop loyalty and advertising applications, the companies announced April 19.

Selling mobile-processing services can prove quite profitable for independent sales organizations, observers say.

The availability of NFC smartphones — an ingredient many say is necessary for mobile payments systems to take off — may be a less onerous problem by 2014, a report from Juniper Research said.

AisleBuyer LLC, a Boston company, is selling mobile software that enables a consumer to scan an image of a payment card and use it to pay for in-store and online purchases.

Corporation Bank Ltd. has launched a mobile wallet to enable its customers to make purchases with their mobile handsets, a spokesperson for the Mangalore-based bank tells PaymentsSource.

While applications that let consumers deposit checks via mobile phone are all the rage, some banks are finally getting around to upgrading remote deposit technology for its original audience: businesses.

Jeroo Inc. said it is testing a mobile payment technology called Scan&Ship Enterprise.

For the major card brands, emerging global markets that broadly lack access to financial services likely will represent the greatest earnings potential for mobile-payments initiatives, concludes a report from Macquarie Equities Research Group.

American Express Co. is positioning its undisclosed investment in mobile-payments company Payfone Inc. as the next step in adding additional functionality to the card brand’s new Serve digital wallet product.

Visa Inc. last week completed a trial of mobile contactless payments in Australia in collaboration with Melbourne-based ANZ Banking Group Ltd., Vipin Kalra, Visa country manager for Australia, tells PaymentsSource.