On the web:

• French Bank and Carrier Team Up to Bring Mobile Payments to Market - NFC World
• Telefonica Digital and RIM Announce NFC payments Market Trial in Spain - FierceMobileContent
• 3G Direct Pay Ltd (Kenya) to Integrate M-Pesa and Airtel Money - businessdailyafrica.com
• Starbucks Launches Mobile Payments App in UK and Ireland - Marketing Magazine
• Google Engineer Shares 2012 Plans for Google Wallet - American Banker
• Orange expands Money services in Africa - Rethink Wireless
• Visa and Retailers Discuss Chip Migration - NACS Online
• Australian Taxis Now Take China UnionPay - People's Daily Online
• EU Weighs Need For Mobile Payment Rules To Attract Industry Investment - Bloomberg

On the wires:

• Top Card Issuer Takes Online Resources’ Collections Global
• Ink from Chase Enhances Rewards Program for Small Business Cardholders
• Facebook Adds SafetyPay as New Global Payment Option for Facebook Credits
• Skrill (formerly Moneybookers) Offers Skrill World Post

On the web:

• Consumers to Switch Banks Over Debit Fees - Bloomberg
• Google Wallet Picks Up Steam With NJ Transit Partnership - TechCrunch
• South Korean Credit Card Firms to Cut Domestic Transaction Fees - Korean Herald
• iZettle (the Square of Europe) Secures €8.2 million Funding - Wall Street Journal
• NetSecure Kudos Takes on Square in Mobile Payments - SlashGear
• Tagattitude Launches Audio-based Mobile Payments System in France - NFCNews

On the wires:

• Earthport to Extend Cross Border Payment Reach
• Moneris Brings Mobile Payment Acceptance to Smartphones in Canada
• Online Resources Signs American Heritage FCU For Advanced Banking Software
• Commidea’s Vanguard Payment Gateway Secures High Volume CNP Payments in UK
• BNP Paribas and Bottomline Technologies Announce SWIFT Service Bureau Partnership
• LINC New York Meeting - NFC: Next frontier for Commerce?

VeriFone has announced a "new direct distribution relationship for retailers, acquirers and processors in Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Austria and Switzerland. These organizations will now be able to obtain products, services, support and value-added solutions directly from VeriFone."

BOKU has announced that it has "launched direct carrier billing with French carriers Bouygues Telecom and SFR, a subsidiary of Vivendi, adding to existing direct billing with Orange France. The partnership offers over an additional 32 million French customers the ability to pay for digital goods and services using only their existing wireless service account, with the charge appearing on their carrier bill. With this agreement, nearly all mobile users in France will benefit from BOKU direct carrier billing."

On the web:

• Rich? Have We Got the Credit Card for You - Wall Street Journal
• Isracard in Pilot to use Cell Phone as Credit Card - Globes Online
• Mobile Payment Players Swallow Their Egos - eWEEK Europe UK
• How Starbucks Is Paving the Way for Mainstream Mobile Payments - Mashable
• Square Closes That $100 Million Round, Mary Meeker Joins Board - TechCrunch

On the wires:

• London Cabs Gear Up to Accept Cards for 2012 Olympics
• Regions Bank Signs Agreement with Western Union to Offer Global Money Transfer Services
• INSIDE Secure and ZTE Working to Bring NFC Phones to GSM and 3G Networks
• Singapore’s Largest Taxi Operator Selects VeriFone NFC Payment Solution
• Global Blue Selects Hypercom Payment Solutions for Merchant Customers Worldwide
• MoneyGram International Celebrates Milestone: 1,000 locations in France
• ProfitStars Introduces Remote Deposit Anywhere: Mobile and Flatbed RDC Solution
• Online Payment Processor PayLane Introduces Partner Affiliate Program

The Mobile Money Exchange has a great visual tool that nicely illustrates the proliferation of mobile money deployments around the world.

This tool was originally developed by the GSMA Mobile Money for the Unbanked team (covering the countries under their remit) and has been extended to include all worldwide mobile money deployments.

Atos Origin and the three major French mobile operators have announced the formation of a joint venture called "Buyster" which is tasked with developing, marketing, and operating a new mobile payment system in France.

Buyster is an innovative, simple, fast and secure remote payment solution for fixed and mobile Internet purchases, which will be available in France from mid-2011. Against a backdrop of sustained growth in eCommerce and an increase in purchases being made from new types of screen, including smartphones and touchscreen devices, the three French mobile operators (Bouygues Telecom, Orange and SFR) and Atos Origin, through Atos Worldline, a European leader in electronic transactions and secure payments, are bringing together their expertise in telecoms and payment to launch this new solution.

Visa Europe and SAS Carte Bleue have announced the completion of the merger of their operations in France and the creation of Visa France. According to the press release, "the new organisation extends Visa Europe’s association model by establishing more direct relationships with French banks in order to meet their needs more closely. This deal represents a significant investment in France by Visa Europe, with a dedicated workforce that will work with Visa Europe's members in France to develop and deliver innovative, value creating solutions to meet their customers’ needs." READ MORE »

INSIDE Contactless has announced a partnership with ADELYA, a Software-as-a-Service company specializing in contactless and mobile loyalty and relationship programs, to enable consumers to conduct retail loyalty, ticketing, low-end ID and other transactions using the mobile phones they already have. INSIDE Contactless is providing ADELYA with PicoPass contactless stickers to transform mobile phones into contactless loyalty cards. More than 300,000 loyalty cards embedded with contactless stickers have already been deployed throughout France to customers of a children's clothing retailer. READ MORE »

Gemalto has announced that five banks in France are currently using its Allynis service as part of the "Payez Mobile" trial for contactless mobile payment: BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole-LCL, Crédit Mutuel-CIC, Caisse d’Epargne and La Banque Postale Groups.

According to Gemalto, "the Pegasus group, which consists of seven major banks and four mobile operators in France, launched the program in November 2007 with 1,000 user clients and 200 merchants in Caen and Strasbourg. The renewal of the Gemalto service contract until the end of 2008 reasserts its recognition as a trusted third party among the various parties involved in the mobile NFC ecosystem." READ MORE »

At its 7th Annual Debit Conference, MasterCard Europe has announced what it calls "the emergence of a series of significant cross-border purchasing trends in Europe coinciding with the official launch of the Single Euro(pean) Payments Area (SEPA)."

MasterCard Europe and Europay France have announced an agreement to
integrate their operating structures in France to support French banks' efforts to
provide competitive payment services.