Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. has joined the interbank funds-transfer service National Payments Corp. of India launched last fall. The Mumbai-based bank launched the service on March 24 for the bank’s customers across the country, an official at the institution tells PaymentsSource.

MasterCard Worldwide on March 28 announced a five-year “roadmap” for electronic payments in Australia that will require issuers and card-accepting merchants there to adopt its PayPass contactless-payment service beginning next year.

VISTA, Calif.-Mid-Atlantic Corporate FCU and Bluepoint Solutions have combined on a joint initiative to assist those credit unions with lower check volumes in adopting Check 21-enabled branch capture.

MIAMI-America First Credit Union had a problem. Although the $5-billion institution was up-to-date with technology for its members-including mobile and web, along with speech recognition and touch-screen capabilities-tellers at the credit union were, as AFCU's Steve Hilton put it, "stuck in the '70s."

American Express Co., going against its image as a brand for the elite, is launching a digital wallet that would make it the payment choice for the masses — in person, online and in mobile.

Mobile-payments company Monitise PLC is testing a service targeted at unbanked consumers in Nigeria that enables users to transfer funds with their cell phones.

Despite the heightened activity around mobile payments, there are still too many unresolved questions for the payment form to have mainstream success this year, one analyst contends.

Though Google Inc. has yet to deliver on a true near-field communication payment phone, it is rumored to be working with key players on the acceptance side.

Barclays PLC continues to dominate the United Kingdom’s contactless-payment market, claiming 88% of the UK’s total base of 12.9 million contactless debit and credit cardholders as of the beginning of the year, according to data the company released March 24.

Experian PLC this week unveiled an income model to help lenders comply with the new Federal Reserve Board rule clarifying elements of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act. The new rule requires issuers to consider only credit card applicants’ individual, not household, incomes (see story).

Telefónica O2 Germany GmbH’s customers now may purchase virtual and physical goods online using their mobile-phone number through a partnership the wireless carrier announced with Boku Inc. March 24.

DENVER – Credit Union of Denver has signed a multi-year contract with Connect Financial Software Solutions for the company’s consumer suite of Internet banking, Online Financial Management, and other services.

Union Bank of India Ltd. is partnering with Nokia India Pvt. Ltd. to launch a mobile-based payment service, a spokesperson for the Mumbai-based bank tells PaymentsSource.

Four Republican state attorneys general oppose forcing banks to reduce the value of loans for troubled homeowners as part of a state-led mortgage-servicing settlement proposal.

Spotting an opportunity to help hospitals improve patient-payment collection systems and to expand its relationships with commercial customers, Wells Fargo & Co. this month is rolling out an online health care payment product that integrates various functions.

PHOENIX – Arizona State CU has implemented Hyland Software’s OnBase Enterprise Content Management solution.

Lloyds TSB Bank PLC later this year will begin issuing Visa-branded contactless debit cards to its accountholders within the greater London area, the Scotland-based bank announced March 23.

Discover Financial Services has benefited from making fewer bad loans, but much of its growth actually may come from products other than credit, according to executives at the company.

Manchester, N.H.-based Bellwether Community CU has rolled out a new mobile banking service provided by NCR Corp., one of the first credit unions to use the NCR mobile banking solution.

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Bellwether Community CU has rolled out a new mobile banking service provided by NCR Corp., one of the first credit unions to use NCR mobile banking solution. The $330 million credit union, which already uses NCR ATMs and its online banking solution, has deployed NCR’s APTRA Mobile Banking, allowing its members to view accounts, search transactions, pay bills, transfer funds and find an ATM or branch via text, mobile web browser or downloadable application. To make deployment fast and simple, NCR is providing Bellwether with mobile banking as a hosted, software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution. SaaS is a scalable implementation model, allowing credit union customers to pay for only what they need now, and the ability to add more capabilities and bandwidth when required. It also provides the credit union with easy access to new technology features and software upgrades when they’re ready for them. Bellwether has integrated APTRA Mobile Banking with its existing APTRA Online Banking and APTRA eMarketing solutions. APTRA eMarketing helps financial institutions deliver personalized, relevant marketing messages to customers through their preferred channel. With APTRA eMarketing, Bellwether can promote its new mobile capabilities to customers.