If the U.S. government could mandate the switch to digital TV, why can't it mandate that credit and debit card issuers switch from magnetic stripe cards to the EMV Integrated Circuit Card Specifications to improve security?

The mobile payment tech company Vivotech Inc. said Wednesday that it is working with DeviceFidelity Inc. to provide contactless payment capabilities for smartphones that can accept microSD memory cards.

MasterCard Inc. on Wednesday released a dedicated application for BlackBerry owners who want to use MoneySend, the card company's mobile person-to-person payment system.

ViVOtech and DeviceFidelity announced a joint solution they say brings contactless mobile payment, loyalty, transit, ticketing and coupon redemption capabilities to leading smartphones, including BlackBerrys and iPhones.

PURCHASE, N.Y. – MasterCard on Wednesday announced the availability of the MasterCard MoneySend person-to-person money transfer service for BlackBerry smartphones.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – ViVOtech and DeviceFidelity announced a joint solution they say brings contactless mobile payment, loyalty, transit, ticketing and coupon redemption capabilities to leading smartphones, including BlackBerrys and iPhones.

Apriva, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based wireless-payments company, on Sept. 8 announced the release of its AprivaPay wireless point-of-sale application for Apple Inc.’s iPhone.

Australia’s taxation authority in September announced plans to seek contacts with various third-party providers to support its e-commerce payments.

Vodacom Pty. Ltd. is teaming with Nedbank Ltd. to launch the M-Pesa mobile cash-transfer service in South Africa, the mobile operator announced last week.

FICO, a provider of analytics and decision management technology, reports that a new survey found strong evidence of a credit gap for consumers as lenders expect credit availability to fall short of consumer demand through the end of 2010.

Obopay Inc. has struck a deal to route person-to-person funds transfers over First Data Corp.'s Star debit network, which accelerates the payments and could make the service more appealing to bank customers.

More banks should consider combining their debit and credit card rewards programs, which could better help them stave off customer attrition, according to the results of a survey released Tuesday by Synergistics Research Corp.

MasterCard Worldwide’s recent collaboration with a Belgium-based payment company to improve cross-border online shopping may be a way for the card company to compete with PayPal Inc., one expert contends.

Tyfone Inc. has received $5 million in financing from HDFC Holdings Ltd., Polaris Software Labe and Ojas Venture Partners, the provider of mobile-banking and mobile contactless-payment technology announced Sept. 7.

The mobile banking train hasn’t left the station yet, but time is running low to be considered an early adopter before the service becomes ubiquitous among banks. In the case of Bank of the West, which introduced its new mobile platform in late August, now’s the time to jump in as more banks will likely view mobile as a must-have in the near future.

A prepaid card company is trying to drive down fraud with an application that replaces plastic cards with virtual accounts that users access with mobile phones.

BATTLE CREEK, Mich.-Board members at OMNI Community CU have ditched paper-based board packets in favor of Apple's iPads.

Consumers are willing to purchase high-ticket items such as concert tickets through mobile-payment services, although many are dissatisfied with the process, according to a survey Netsize NA released this month.

Experts say Android is the hottest smartphone for mobile banking, but when it comes to payments, the Seattle coffee retailer hopes there is still a big opportunity in the increasingly neglected BlackBerry.

Virtual gift card provider Giftango Corp. on Sept. 1 released a software-development kit that enables mobile-phone application companies to develop gift card products consumers may use at the point of sale or redeem online.