Remote capture services have become an important offering for business customers, and banks are now adapting the technology for mobile phones in an effort to reach the mainstream.

In one of the most recent signs of the spread of so-called micropayments, U.S.-based start-up Boku Inc. late last year began enabling consumers in Estonia and Venezuela to pay for digital goods using mobile-phone accounts. A consumer who wants to buy virtual currency to acquire extra “lives” or goods useful in online video games, for example, would, after registering, make the purchase through the game provider’s Web site. The consumer would confirm the purchase through a text message, and the charge would appear on the consumer’s mobile phone bill, eliminating the need to use a payment card.

FORT MILLS, S.C. – Sharonview FCU said it has recently upgraded to Unitrends’ latest D2D2D data protection appliances after successfully relying on Unitrends for more than five years.

RICHARDSON, Texas – Texans CU said its Innovative Support Solutions CUSO has signed with Open Solutions to provide its Informant fraud detection solution to Open Solutions’ core clients.

BROOKFIELD, Wis. – Fiserv announced yesterday it is introducing a licensed version of Corillian Online featuring an enhanced user interface and integrated personal financial management tools.

HSBC Holdings PLC’s rollout in the Asia-Pacific region of smart credit cards equipped with the EMV antifraud standard likely will help to increase the pace of EMV adoption this year in most markets, except the U.S., observers say .

Despite an industrywide improvement in chargeoffs evident in fourth-quarter results, many credit card executives are wary of declaring an end to the harshest cycle in decades, with several issuers forecasting higher loan losses this quarter and beyond.

WOBURN, Mass. – EasCorp FCU said yesterday it and its wholly owned CUSO, Vertifi Software, LLC, have expanded their remote deposit capture service, called DeposZip, to include mobile deposits.

Torrance (Calif.) Community Credit Union said it successfully accepted its first mobile phone deposit over an iPhone.

FLINT, Mich. – Financial Plus FCU has joined several other local financial institutions in offering free electronic check recovery services to business checking or commercial customers.

Has "Tap and Go" come and gone?

PayPal Inc. may face its most crucial test this year as it seeks to broaden its reach.

Citigroup Inc. announced Thursday that it has integrated credit card account information into its downloadable Citi Mobile application for the Apple Inc. iPhone.

TORRANCE, Calif. – Torrance Community CU said it successfully accepted its first mobile phone deposit over an iPhone.

Consumers are eager to use contactless stickers for routine payments as a bridge before Near Field Communication-equipped mobile handsets are available on a mass scale, suggest the results of a recently completed Discover Financial Services pilot.

Mobile-payments company Apriva announced this week the launch of the AprivaPay and AprivaPay Professional mobile-payment services. The move means Apriva resellers, including ISOs, banks and merchant acquirers, now can resell Apriva’s integrated mobile-payment product.

SAN FRANCISCO – Patelco CU said it has signed with Guardian Analytics to install the company’s FraudMAP to defend against even the most sophisticated fraud attacks without impacting its members' online experience and without overburdening its security staff.

The continuing evolution of mobile technology has prompted a fledging mobile-payments company to develop a system that enables consumers to send free text message-based funds transfers to Central America.

Mobile-payments company Apriva announced today the launch of the AprivaPay and AprivaPay Professional mobile-payment services. Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Apriva operates its own network that connects mobile-payment terminals to processors.

Citibank customers in Thailand can now use their cell phones to access their bank accounts with Citi Mobile, Citi announced earlier this month. The company says it is the first foreign bank to offer mobile banking in Thailand.