At least 10 new clients adopted Mitek Systems Inc.’s mobile check-capture software last quarter, including three of the top 10 U.S. retail banks and a top-30 credit union, the San Diego-based vendor announced Jan 18.

Using mobile phones to track and redeem credit and debit card loyalty points soon may become key elements of loyalty marketing, according to Andrew Davidson, senior vice president at Mintel Comperemedia.

Merchant-level salespeople who use POS Portal Inc. as their point-of-sale equipment distributor now have a mobile-phone tool that enables them to check the availability and wholesale pricing of devices, POS Portal announced Jan. 4.

Discover Financial Services' execution of its long-expected "mobile wallet" will define its role in mobile commerce, a future where consumers make contactless payments with their cell phones and receive wireless deals as they enter stores. "Unlike existing mobile technologies that are transactional in nature, the mobile wallet truly facilitates mobile commerce," predicts Gloria Colgan, Discover's svp of emerging payments.

MasterCard Worldwide has hired an executive who has been integral in French wireless carrier Orange’s rollout of mobile-payment services, according to an online report by NFC Times.

Mobile-banking applications are plentiful and easily available, but new research suggests consumer awareness of them is low despite the buzz surrounding the service.

As payments executives debate which approach to mobile payments will win out, Bank of America Corp. is showing greater commitment to a system based on Visa Inc.’s specifications.

In a management shuffle announced Jan. 11, Obopay Inc. promoted its president to chief executive, and its previous CEO assumed the role of executive chairman.

Mobile payments startup Square Inc. has raised $27.5 million in venture capital, a spokesperson confirmed Jan. 11.

China Banking Corp. has launched in the Philippines a mobile version of its online-banking service customers may use to inquire about account balances, transfer funds and pay bills, the Manila-based bank announced Jan. 6.

China’s second-largest mobile-network operator China Unicom has begun offering a contactless mobile-payment service in Beijing.

Qatar National Bank Ltd. has upgraded its eazypay mobile-payment platform to include merchant transactions, the Doha-based bank announced Dec. 29.

Intuit Inc. is offering its GoPayment mobile-payment service with free card readers and no monthly service fees to small merchants who sign up by mid-February, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company announced Jan. 10.

Mopay Inc., a Germany-based mobile-payments company, anticipates that the fees charged for purchases applied to mobile-phone bills will decrease significantly by the end of the year.

U.S. consumers would be able to use their smartphones to pay, collect and redeem coupons, and price-compare products and services both online and in stores under a partnership deal ARS Interactive and CellPoint Mobile announced Jan. 6.

Fifth Third Bancorp later this year plans to launch CashEdge Inc.’s Popmoney electronic-payment service, which enables consumers to transfer funds to another person’s bank account through the automated clearinghouse system, the companies announced Jan. 5.

India’s banking regulator has extended to Feb. 1 the deadline it had set for banks in the country to add a second layer of security to credit card transactions conducted over mobile phones.

During the just-completed holiday season, PayPal Inc. experienced a surge in consumers making purchases using its online payment service with their smartphones and other mobile devices, according to the San Jose, Calif.-based company.

For all the hullabaloo mobile remote-deposit capture generated in 2010, the availability of the service that enables consumers to deposit checks from home using the cameras on their smartphones remains limited to a few banks’ customers.

Mobile banking’s of little use as an innovation if apps can’t ensure the identity of the user, creating a lucrative security market in which Tyfone just scored a pair of patents.