Laborers in India’s most-populated state of Uttar Pradesh are receiving biometric smart cards through which they may receive their wages under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, whose goal is to help workers avoid being cheated out of their pay.

Laxmi Bank Ltd. in Nepal has launched an online-payment service, an official from the Kathmandu-based bank tells PaymentsSource.

Malaysian citizens now may use their Touch n’ Go contactless transit cards to pay for parking at stations in the local subway network in select cities, a spokesperson for the local transport authority Rapid KL tells PaymentsSource.

Malaysian citizens now may use their Touch n’ Go contactless transit cards to pay for parking at stations in the local subway network in select cities, a spokesperson for the local transport authority Rapid KL tells PaymentsSource.

Malaysian citizens now may use their Touch n’ Go contactless transit cards to pay for parking at stations in the local subway network in select cities, a spokesperson for the local transport authority Rapid KL tells PaymentsSource.

Three New York transit agencies are kicking off a contactless payment test today that they hope will show credit and debit cards can replace closed-loop fare cards — and lead to wider use of contactless cards in general.

Mobile merchants in nations where chip-and-PIN cards using the EMV standard are used will have an opportunity to use VeriFone Systems Inc.’s PayWare Mobile service for the iPhone later this year, VeriFone says.

Melbourne’s Myki smart card ticketing system reportedly has failed another test. Local newspapers in the Australia city report the system was unable to adjust fares for senior cardholders automatically, forcing operators to manually adjust their accounts.

The Better Business Bureau serving Central California is warning businesses to avoid collection agency Maxwell, Turner & Associates Inc. The Fresno, Calif. agency has an F-rating for 32 unanswered complaints within the last 10 months.

Fledging mobile-payments company RegaloCard LLC announced May 26 a distribution agreement with IDT Corp. to place its card-based funds-transfer service in more than 150,000 retailers across the United States.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. customers soon will be able to pay their utility bills with Apple Inc.’s iPhone as part of a pilot the San Francisco-based utility agreed to with bill-payments expediter Tio Networks Corp.

Payments experts are split on consumers' willingness to use phones to make purchases, or whether they know it's an option. While the analysts agree interchange policies are far too complicated, there is also concern that government mandates may not be the best way to make fees more equitable.

PASADENA, Calif. – Wescom Central CU on Wednesday said its Wescom Resources Group CUSO is rolling out its mobile banking solution for credit unions.

Mirroring what others are saying about the future of Near Field Communication-enabled mobile payments in the United States, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston reveals in a May 23 report that widespread adoption of the technology will not occur for at least another five years.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has dropped its antitrust probe of the local subsidiary of eBay Inc. after the online auction site said it would remove a requirement that sellers offer PayPal as a payment option, the regulator announced recently. PayPal is eBay’s online-payment unit.

Visa Inc. and Monitise PLC plan to form a joint venture to provide mobile financial services in India, the companies announced May 26. They expect the joint-venture deal to close in June.

PURCHASE, N.Y. – MasterCard Inc. yesterday said it plans to open its proprietary payment system to software developers to allow them to create new smartphone applications.

VIENNA, Va. – Navy FCU yesterday announced the release of a free mobile banking app for the iPhone and iPod touch through EffectiveUI.

Equity Bank is partnering with telecommunication firm Safaricom Ltd. to launch a mobile funds-transfer service called M-Kesho, the Kenya-based bank announced in a statement. The service will launch by the end of this month.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has added two so-called Instant Action text-alert features to its mobile-banking service.