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.

Cardlytics Inc. and ClairMail Inc. have announced a partnership to enable financial institutions to deliver coupons and other merchant offers to customers’ mobile phones, Atlanta-based Cardlytics reported on Dec. 7.

China’s largest telecommunication operator China Telecom Ltd. is partnering with the Bank of China Ltd. and China UnionPay to offer a mobile-payment service in the city of Ningbo in China’s Zhenjiang province.

The Qatar Central Bank, the apex banking body in the Middle Eastern country, has given its nod to mobile funds-transfer and payment services in Qatar.

PARIS–Amid the steady drumbeat of recent mobile-payments announcements, interoperability has emerged as the watchword for developers as they bring their new innovations to market.

A newly announced mobile phone running Google Inc.’s Android software contains the hardware groundwork for mobile payments.

Co-Op Financial Services announced it has teamed with mFoundry to offer mobile deposits, allowing members to “snap and deposit” checks from anywhere using their mobile phones.

Vivotech Inc. and Monitise PLC have formed a partnership to bring mobile-payment services to banks within the United States, London-based Monitise announced Dec. 7.

PARIS–Mobile payments are set to expand dramatically within the next two years, payments industry executives concurred during a roundtable discussion here Dec. 7 at the Cartes & IDentification conference. Although various obstacles to widespread deployment remain, the panelists agreed the industry has achieved significant progress within the past 12 months.

Motorists in Dubai reportedly are upset about the new mParking service launched by the Road Transport Authority of Dubai because of its limited functionality. The service enables motorists to pay for their parking lot tickets by sending a text message from their mobile phones.

As the effects of recent financial legislation may cause some card issuers to scale back on the rewards and loyalty programs they offer to encourage card use and, inherently, shopping, the doors may be opening for third-party loyalty-program providers to align with merchants.