Payments

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.

A woman saying she was harassed by Capital One for a disputed $4,000 credit card debt has filed suit after the bank demanded more than $286 million dollars.

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.

A suspect was arrested for allegedly taking part in last week's online attacks against MasterCard Inc., Visa Inc. and PayPal Inc.

TAMPA, Fla. – Suncoast Schools FCU said yesterday it signed an agreement to process credit accounts, signature and PIN debit, and ATM accounts with Card Services for CUs.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – VyStar CU said yesterday it contracted with Fiserv’s ACCEL/Exchange debit payments network to be the credit union’s sole PIN debit provider.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – JM Associates FCU is the first financial institution to use Star CertiFlash, a new PIN debit application offered by First Data Corp.’s Star Network that advances point-of-sale security using one-time card number technology.

IRVINE, Calif. – Wincor Nixdorf and HID Global, a provider of secure identity systems, have introduced an ATM system with a contactless smart card reader, allowing a single piece of equipment to process ATM and automatic fare collection transactions.

WASHINGTON – Debit transactions have risen dramatically in recent years to exceed both credit and checks as the most popular form of payments, the Federal Reserve reported yesterday, providing an important backdrop to impending regulations on card interchange.

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.

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson claims in a lawsuit that Discover Bank telemarketers selling identity-theft and credit-score monitoring services fail to tell consumers when they are agreeing to purchase those products, according to several media reports.

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.