Qatar National Bank Ltd. has launched the first mobile-to-mobile funds-transfer service in Qatar, the Doha-based bank announced Sept. 22.

Bharti Airtel Ltd. has become the first mobile operator in India to receive a license from the Reserve Bank of India to offer mobile-payment services, the New Delhi-based company announced Sept. 22.

A recent partnership between Western Union Co. and Toronto, Canada-based electronic-wallet provider EnStream LP will enable Canadian consumers to send funds both domestically and internationally using their mobile phones. The companies plan to launch a pilot in Canada in December.

PayMate India Pvt. Ltd. has signed an agreement with Bank of Ceylon to launch mobile payment and banking services in Sri Lanka, the Mumbai-based mobile-payments provider announced last week.

Bling Nation Ltd. soon will tap in to VeriFone Systems Inc.’s vast reseller network to extend point-of sale acceptance of Bling’s rewards-based contactless BlingTags, the companies announced Sept. 21. The deal also will help extend acceptance of PayPal, traditionally an online payment service, to brick-and-mortar retailers nationally.

China's largest mobile-network operator China Mobile is suspending its project involving an RFID-SIM, a mobile-payment technology based on the 2.4GHz standard for contactless payment, local media in China reported last week.

Mobile-payments firm RegaloCard LLC is bringing its card-based funds-transfer service to an additional 4,000 U.S. retail locations through a distribution agreement with iPayStation LLC, the companies announced Sept. 20.

First Data Corp.’s recently announced partnership with a South Korea-based technology company will help strengthen the transaction processor’s ability to support contactless payments in advance of Near Field Communication-enabled mobile payments, according to a First Data executive.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka is soliciting public comment on guidelines it has drafted for mobile-payment systems, an official from the bank tells PaymentsSource.The bank’s director of payments and settlements is accepting comments through Oct. 18, according to the official. “Our aim is to ensure safety and effectiveness of mobile-payment schemes,” he says. Under the draft guidelines, the central bank will allow mobile payments in Sri Lanka only through licensed banks, registered finance companies and custodian account-based systems operated by nonbank service providers. Banks and financial institutions would be allowed to offer mobile-payments services to their accountholders, which would allow customers to operate their accounts via their mobile phone. Under the custodian account-based system, mobile operators may open e-money accounts for customers and issue e-money in exchange for actual money from customers, according to the guidelines.The central bank would allow mobile-payment services to be conducted only in Sri Lanka rupees and only for domestic transactions, and providers must route all foreign inward remittances to mobile accounts through the custodian banks and credit them in rupees. The draft rules also would require mobile-payments providers to report any suspicious transactions based on the guidelines of the central bank’s Financial Intelligence Unit. The draft also requires providers to use security measures to prevent criminal activity while using Near Field Communication-based mobile-payment systems.

With interest in mobile payments growing, First Data Corp. and South Korea-based SK C&C Co. Ltd. reportedly plan to collaborate to enable consumers in the United States, Canada and Mexico to use their mobile phones in place of physical wallets to initiate payment.

UMonitor’s financial-institution customers now may offer consumers person-to-person funds-transfer services to make payments via mobile phones or e-mail, the Web-based division of Memphis, Tenn.-based Parsam Technologies LLC reported on Sept. 14.

Payment processor Global Payments Inc. will sell VeriFone Systems Inc.’s PayWare Mobile service in Canada, VeriFone announced Wednesday.

Mobile operator du, the commercially branded name of the Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co., has launched an automated payment service to enable its postpaid customers to pay bills using their mobile phones, the Dubai-based company earlier this month.

Intuit, Inc., and several credit union defendants have asked a federal court here to dismiss a patent infringement suit brought by MShift over its mobile banking technology, saying the company’s patent is outmoded and not pertinent to their technology.

The Bank of Namibia late last month authorized Mobicash Payment Solutions Pvt. Ltd. to offer a new mobile-payment service in the country, according to a Mobicash spokesperson. The service, which is scheduled to launch in October, will enable the institution’s customers to use their mobile phones to pay for goods and person-to-person funds transfers.

State-owned telecommunication operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. on Sept. 13 launched a service that enables customers who have credit cards to pay their telco bills using their mobile phones, according to a spokesperson for the India-based company.

MasterCard Inc. is trying to reach the small but growing number of people who might be ready for mobile payments by sending them time-sensitive offers that can help them save money and become more comfortable using their phones to make purchases.

The electronic-billing technology company Transactis Inc. has acquired OfferIQ, a mobile coupon service provider for banks and merchants, the companies said Thursday.

A Netherlands-based group consisting of banks and mobile operators has agreed to form a joint-venture company to support Near Field Communication mobile payments at the point of sale in 2012.

ANZ Banking Group has launched an application for Apple Inc.’s iPhone that enables customers to transfer funds to other mobile-phone uses in Australia, an official for the Melbourne-based bank tells PaymentsSource.