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.

Telecommunication firm Tata Indicom, the brand name of Mumbai-based Tata Teleservices Ltd., has signed a mobile-remittance deal with eSSecom Pvt. Ltd., the company announced Dec.15.

The Central Bank of Nigeria earlier this month reportedly granted its approval to allow FirstBank Nigeria PLC to offer mobile-payment services in the East African country.

Think Computer Corp. has introduced a digital-coupon system integrated into its mobile-payments application that relies on facial recognition to confirm a user’s identity at the point of sale to help combat payment fraud.

Visa Inc. unveiled its new special offers mobile payment app, placing it in a crowded market for merchant perks that also includes a major push by rival MasterCard Worldwide.

The company behind the popular mobile-phone game Angry Birds is adding a payment option using a model that has gained traction in recent months with U.S.-based wireless operators.

Discover Financial Services is banking on a mobile future. Executives at the Riverwoods, Ill.-based company said during a Dec. 16 conference call with analysts to discuss its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that its deal with wireless carriers AT&T Inc., T-Mobile USA Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. will play heavily in its future.

Washington Trust Bank in Spokane is offering mobile banking services to its customers through text, mobile Web and dedicated applications using mFoundry Inc.'s software.

Google Inc. is collecting the pieces for a major mobile payments system — but it is a long way from assembling them.

A mobile-commerce company in Berkeley, Calif., says it has devised a means to enable mobile phones to communicate with chips in attached stickers to support true Near Field Communication payments and two-way communications between NFC chips.

Visa Inc. has launched a mobile shopping application for Apple Inc.’s iPhone to enable holders of Visa cards to access various merchant discounts using their mobile phones, the card company reported on Dec. 14.