SunTrust Banks Inc. keeps embracing new payments systems rather than try to steer customers to the older payment types that most banks favor.

SunTrust Banks Inc. keeps embracing new payments systems rather than try to steer customers to the older payment types that most banks favor.

The Auckland Regional Transport Authority is in talks with Visa Inc. to expand the function of the new “super ticket” system the agency has planned for the New Zealand city’s public transport system.

PARIS–Several mobile-payment system trials next year will expand, potentially moving into commercial availability. But the relatively small pool of merchants equipped to accept the payments could limit consumer use of the services, experts said here this week at the Cartes & Identification conference.

PARIS–The series of recent announcements by major mobile-handset makers of plans to build Near Field Communication technology into the next generation of phones represents the critical element needed to ignite mobile-payments development next year, contends Mohammed Kahn of Vivotech Inc.

Vivotech Inc., Bell ID and PPC Card Systems BV are teaming up to launch a mass-market rollout of Near Field Communication mobile-payment services in Europe in the second quarter of 2011, Santa Clara, Calif.-based Vivotech announced Dec. 2.

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington State Employees CU said it has revamped its product development process with the help of technology consultant CUTEK.

More than three-fourths of all U.S. noncash payments in 2009 were made electronically, a new Federal Reserve study indicates, representing a 9.3% annualized increase since the Fed’s previous study that revealed that in 2006 two-thirds of noncash payments were electronic (see report).

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.

PARIS–As contactless payment catches on in certain pockets of Europe, key facts are emerging about what slows and accelerates adoption of the payment method, according to Mark Austin, head of contactless at Visa Europe.

PARIS–The official unveiling this week of the Open Standard Public Transport Alliance, which is developing an open security standard for mass-transit fare-collection systems, illustrates the type of broad collaboration needed to advance the payments industry, its participants suggest.

WARREN, Ohio – Seven Seventeen CU has acquired Experian QAS data quality software to better manage member addresses.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Sioux Empire FCU has implemented eDoc Innovations’ CheckLogic branch capture and electronic image processing system.

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–Vendors will ship 6.02 billion smart cards next year, up 13.2% from 5.32 billion this year, fueled by growth in emerging markets, vendor trade group Eurosmart announced here Dec. 7 at the Cartes & IDentification conference.

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.