The Nilson Report has announced that American Express overtook MasterCard to gain second place among credit card brands in the U.S., based on spending at merchants.

“This is the first time since MasterCard was known as MasterCharge back in the 1960s, that American Express has experienced more purchase volume,” said David Robertson, publisher of The Nilson Report. While purchase volume increased for all four card brands (Visa, Amex, MasterCard, and Discover), American Express credit cards had an increase of 13.4% to $540 billion dollars, vs. an increase 6.1% to $508 billion for MasterCard credit cards.

BOKU announced that it is expanding its payments technology to cover retail point-of-sale with BOKU Accounts.

“BOKU Accounts brings together the best parts of mobile payments and technology, leveraging NFC, smartphones and global payment networks for a better consumer experience.” Said Mark Britto, BOKU CEO. “We are leveraging the power of the device in your pocket to improve every transaction you make, anywhere in the world, and helping our MNO partners expand into the off-line world, while bringing tremendous value to their subscribers and merchants alike.”

TIO Networks has announced it will launch a cloud-based wallet platform, TIO Wallet, designed to help the estimated 60 million Americans who have limited access to mainstream financial products.

“Finally, a Wallet designed from the ground up to meet the evolving needs of the underbanked consumer,” said Hamed Shahbazi, Chairman and CEO of TIO Networks. “The vast majority of TIO’s $1B worth of transactions per year, support the underbanked marketplace. We know what is important to this customer and are proud to serve them.”

PULSE has announced an agreement with Obopay to enable real-time money transfer capabilities for PULSE financial institution participants.

“Combining our extensive debit network with Obopay’s broad range of mobile money solutions gives consumers a faster and more efficient way to pay with their debit card, while also enabling new revenue generating opportunities for our participants,” said Judith McGuire, Executive Vice President of Product Management at PULSE. “A growing number of mobility-minded consumers require instant payments and transfers. The agreement with Obopay is one way we can help facilitate that for our financial institutions and their account holders.”

Chase has announced that it has invested in GoPago, a provider of a mobile payments service that allows consumers to remotely browse, order, and pay for local goods and services.

“Chase is committed to giving consumers and businesses a great shopping experience, leveraging the latest advances in mobile payment technologies,” said Jack Stephenson, director of mobile, e-commerce and payments at Chase. “GoPago will allow us to create powerful new value propositions for businesses and consumers.”

MasterCard has announced a global initiative called the MasterCard Mobile Money Partnership Program to help financially-underserved consumers gain access to financial services through their mobile phones.

“With about five billion mobile phone users worldwide, this program provides powerful, smart and convenient new payment options to people through a device that’s already in the palm of their hands today,” said Mung Ki Woo, Group Executive, Mobile, MasterCard Worldwide. “Our approach is to work with all leading players in the Mobile Money ecosystem to bring the benefits of electronic payments to those who otherwise wouldn’t have access to formal financial services. Comviva, Sybase 365 and Utiba are key strategic platform partners to help implement this vision.”

On the web:

• A New Meaning to “Eat and Run”? Restaurants and Mobile Payments - JDSupra
• Why Debit-Card Overdraft Fees Are Under Scrutiny Again - Businessweek
• Revel Wants To Bring iPad-Powered POS Systems To The Hospitality And Retail Industries - TechCrunch
• Lemon.com Launches New Version. It’s Blippy Done Right. - PandoDaily

On the wires:

• MasterCard and Telefonica’s Joint Venture Unveils Brand Name - "Wanda"
• Oberthur Technologies Chosen by Société Générale to Roll out Its NFC Services
• MAGTEK Europe Introduces iDynamoEMV, EMV Chip & PIN Mobile Payment Terminal
• Pearson Teams With Zuora to Launch Digital Learning Service
• New Mercator Report on Hybrid Card Technology