DAVENPORT, Iowa-A $93-million CU has already seen unexpected results in the three months it has offered its "triple play" mobile banking service that allows members to use SMS, a mobile browser or a download to access mobile banking.

BOSTON-With banks primarily focused on merchant capture, one company said credit unions are moving quickly to step into a vacuum and leverage opportunities in consumer capture.

BOSTON-There's a (compliance) app for that. Apple Computer's iPhone App Store model is increasingly becoming the model for delivery of services in the commercial market, including to credit unions.

Eighty consumers in the Zurich region are testing the use of mobile phones to make purchases from farmers’ markets in one of the latest tests of Near Field Communication technology, a spokesperson for Legic Identsystems Ltd., a Switzerland-based contactless-technology vendor participating in the project, tells CardLine. The test, which started this month and is scheduled to last four to six months, enables consumers to touch their NFC-enabled Nokia 6131 phones against price tags containing NFC chips in the farmer shops. The phones have “shopping basket” applications that store the item and price information, Legic says. Consumers touch a “checkout” tag to process the payments. The shops deploy no traditional point-of-sale terminals, Legic says. “No payment terminals are needed, as the payment process is handled via an over-the-air” service, the spokesperson says. “The payment information of each customer is connected to an account behind the scene, and the money is transferred to the farmer on a monthly basis.” Participants were selected from among existing market customers and consumers from the area, the spokesperson adds. Personnel from the University of Applied Sciences from Northwest Switzerland will monitor and analyze the test, Legic says. Austria-based mobile contactless-technology vendor Nextperts GmbH, Swiss-based mobile payments firm e24 AG and Germany-based chip card supplier Winter AG also are participating in the test.

Boku Inc., which enables consumers to charge so-called micropayments to mobile-phone bills, has begun offering its services in Estonia and Venezuela, according to Ron Hirson, co-founder and senior vice president of product at the San Francisco-based firm. The company operates in 58 countries, though the United States remains among the top three markets for Boku, he says, declining to be more specific. Consumers use Boku to purchase such digital goods and services as virtual currency for online games and pay fees for online dating sites. For instance, a consumer who wants to buy virtual currency to buy extra “lives” or other goods useful in online games would, after registering for the service, 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, which could reduce or eliminate a merchant’s profit because of relatively high interchange fees for such small purchases. The average transaction processed by Boku is between US$8 and US$9, Hirson says. Boku serves more than 1,000 merchants and processes payments for three of the top five game applications offered on social networking site Facebook, Hirson says. A Facebook spokesperson declined to comment. Hirson would not disclose the number of transactions processed by Boku, which begun full operations during this year’s first quarter. However, he says, Boku has experienced “double-digit [transaction] growth every month since the first quarter.”

Capital One Financial Corp. reported yesterday that more of its U.S. credit card borrowers fell behind on payments in November.

ATHENS, Ohio – Ohio University CU said yesterday it has launched a new Select Employee Group Ambassador Web Portal.

HARRISBURG, Penn. – Pennsylvania State Employees CU said yesterday it has signed with Firethorn Holdings, LLC to offer the company’s mobile banking platform to its members in 2010.

NYCE Payments Network LLC Monday officially joined the alternative-payments space when it announced a partnership with CardinalCommerce Corp. to offer its SafeDebit Internet-debit product to online merchants. NYCE believes SafeDebit addresses consumers’ concerns about the safety of purchasing goods and services online, though some observers say the companies still face the difficult task of marketing the product.

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – Affinity FCU said it has partnered with Digital Insight, an Intuit company (the makers of QuickBooks and Quicken) to offer Small Business FinanceWorks, an online solution designed to streamline the financial tasks of small businesses.

Ukash, a United Kingdom-based firm that sells prepaid vouchers for online shopping, announced Monday it has introduced its products in China. Consumers in China can order the vouchers online Ukash says in a statement. Consumers then can use the vouchers for online transactions. The vouchers have unique 19-digit codes consumers enter on Web sites during online transactions. Ukash and other firms offering similar vouchers sell them to consumers who prefer not to use cards for online purchases or who cannot use cards. Ukash already distributes its vouchers in such Asia-Pacific countries as Australia and New Zealand (CardLine Global, 22 July). Consumers in 26 countries now can purchase Ukash vouchers, the firm says.

Consumers in the Australian state of Queensland now can use prepaid Go Cards for travel on the TransLink network, the Queensland state transport minister has announced. The Go Card is a contactless card consumers can use to pay for bus, train and ferry rides. Consumers can store up to AU$250 (US$230 or 156 euros) on the cards. Consumers can buy the cards at various merchant locations in Queensland, and they can choose to have automatic top-ups on the cards via credit card payments. The Queensland Government formed the TransLink Transit Authority to improve and expand public-transport services across Southeast Queensland.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. – CO-OP Financial Services announced a partnership with NCR Corp. to offer a comprehensive suite of managed ATM services to credit unions.

New technology enabling credit card marketers to create cell phone text-message dialogues with customers could enhance their marketing and collection efforts, and one analyst says the technology could be "a potent new tool" as text messaging becomes more routine.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.-It isn't children who are hoping for something new under the tree this year. Credit Union Journal presents its 8th Annual Holiday Wish List among technology execs and other credit union leaders.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.-If you could offer a dream iPhone application to members, what would it do? CUJ asked that very question to small CUs as part of our 8th Annual Technology Wish List and received an array of ideas beyond the standard menu of balance inquiries, funds transfers and bill payments.

IMGCAP(1)]

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – Affinity FCU has rolled out a new remote deposit capture system offered by Integrated Media Management that allows the credit union to process all deposited checks electronically, whether a member is in-branch or remote.

IMGCAP(1)]

IMGCAP(1)]