Payments

With sponsorship from Citigroup Inc., Billing Revolution Inc. is trying to help convert people who window-shop on their mobile phones into paying customers.

Starbucks Corp. now includes PayPal Inc.’s payment system as a funding method for its mobile payment application.

Citing fewer defaults and a reduction in overall outstanding receivables, Target Corp.’s credit card unit more than doubled its profit during the third quarter, the company announced Wednesday.

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State University FCU said yesterday it renewed its contract with Card Services for CUs to process its 86,000 credit and 116,000 signature debit accounts.

Near Field Communication will outlast other mobile-payment technologies such as microSD cards and two-dimensional barcodes, observers contacted by PaymentsSource generally agree.

Mobile-payments provider Zong Inc. has entered the Philippines market through partnership agreements with mobile carriers Globe Telecom Ltd. and Smart Communications Ltd., the U.S.-based company announced Nov. 17.

Mitek Systems, fresh off some major wins for its mobile technology, announced yesterday it broke into the black for its fiscal fourth quarter to the tune of a $180,000 net, compared to a $328,000 loss for the fourth quarter last year.

Recent developments suggest 2011 will be the year that mobile payments take hold in the United States in a big way.

The 200 million wireless subscribers connected to AT&T Inc., T-Mobile USA Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. may not be enough for the companies’ mobile payments joint venture to succeed; it still needs to attract large banks and merchants, one analyst says.

When a devastating earthquake struck Haiti in January, the country’s government and relief organizations used services tied to mobile phones to pay victims for clean-up work. The program sought to empower Haitians with a means to buy food and other goods and services.

Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile USA will unveil more details on their joint venture to create a mobile payment network, which will be financially backed by Barclays PLC and Discover Financial Services, as soon as Tuesday, according to people familiar with the situation, Dow Jones is reporting.

Consumers have yet to widely adopt bill payment on smartphones — a trend some say is typical of new bill-pay systems.

Why so many ISOs, acquirers, and point-of-sale software and hardware makers are excited about putting advanced mobile POS equipment into merchants’ hands is not difficult to grasp. Such systems may generate additional revenue not only from existing clients, but also possibly from merchants who previously could not or would not accept payment cards.

U.S. consumers’ average credit scores stabilized in recent months, as credit card debt fell by 7% through the first 10 months of the year, according to data Credit Karma released Wednesday.

More than half of the nation’s largest financial institutions offer mobile-banking services, which continue to evolve from being an extension of online banking to supporting person-to-person funds transfers and other payment capabilities, according to a new report from First Annapolis Consulting Inc.

Though the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has jurisdiction over a wide range of financial products, Elizabeth Warren is making credit cards her top priority.

Bling Nation Ltd. said Tuesday that its mobile contactless payment system will be accepted by the regional grocery chain Brookshire Grocery Co.

Mobile banking provider MShift said yesterday it is partnering with RDM Corp. to provide remote deposit capture over Mshift’s mobile banking applications for the iPhone and Android platforms.

With mobile access now widely accepted as a consumer channel, more banks are turning their attention to businesses.

U.S. consumer borrowing rose in September by the largest amount in two years, thanks to a surge in non-revolving credit such as college loans and auto financing.