Mobile payments

Microsoft Wallet has a substantial consumer base, particularly stemming from its gaming business, through there aren't a lot of banks that support its mobile payments technology. The software picked up some bank momentum with this week's addition of PNC.

ItzCash and India’s RBL Bank have formed a partnership to launch the country’s first cobranded prepaid card powered by the government-backed RuPay Network, the latest example of India's efforts to rapidly accelerate financial inclusion.

Even though studies are showing that an increasing number of users are giving the mobile wallet technology a try, only a few are reported to be using it on a continuous basis.

Carrier billing provider Boku is expanding its partnership with Microsoft to customers in the U.K. and Italy.

At most merchants, mobile wallets have been a solution in search of a problem. But at the pharmacy, every customer already has a problem — possibly several problems — they want to address before they even think about how they want to pay.

Two years after eschewing Apple Pay and NFC, CVS is integrating payments, marketing and prescription ordering in a single bar code-enabled mobile app, replacing a customer experience that currently relies heavily on time-consuming interactions with staff.

Walmart Pay has been available nationwide at Walmart stores for several weeks, but consumers haven’t taken much notice — a foreboding sign for those hoping for a breakthrough with merchant-branded mobile payment apps.

Payza, a U.K.-based global online payments platform, has expanded the reach of its prepaid Mastercard, which is linked to an existing mobile wallet, to 190 countries.

Apple Inc. is preparing the first significant overhaul of its MacBook Pro laptop line in over four years, according to people familiar with the matter, using one of its older products to help reverse two quarters of sliding sales.

Airlines are a paradox of mobile payment acceptance. They handle check-ins, boarding passes and other key functions through their apps, but are not as full-featured when it comes to handling sales over phones and tablets.