appMobi has announced public beta availability of playMobi, a cross-platform HTML5-based game development, deployment, and monetization SDK.

playMobi enables cross-platform in-app purchasing with its 1Touch in-app payment system. When a player makes a purchase, playMobi automatically completes the transaction using the correct in-app-purchase backend system, based on the device in use. When running on iOS, playMobi uses iTunes; on Android, Google Payments; on Facebook, Facebook Credits; and on the Open Web, PayPal.

More information is available from the appMobie website, www.appmobi.com.

On the web:

• For Banks, Tech Frontier Fraught With Pitfalls - Wall Street Journal
• Apple, Not Carriers, Will Drive NFC Growth - Rethink Wireless

On the wires:

• New Packaged Facts Report on Private Label Credit Card Industry
• Eastern Bank Chooses Elan Financial Services to Launch New Credit Card Program
• ViVOtech Contactless EMV and NFC Payment Software Powers Tri-Reader 3 for Cubic Transportation Systems
• NetSecure Announces Free Kudos Mobile Credit Card Terminals for Non-Profits and Charities
• Navy Federal Boosts Credit Card Rewards for Over a Million Members; Powered by Cartera Commerce
• Failsafe Payments Adds SafetyPay to CertoConnect
• Transaction Wireless to Power Buffalo Wild Wings Gift Cards
• New Mercator Report on Prepaid Industry

Several media outlets are reporting on a new mobile checkout technology from Kima Labs called TapBuy Deals. The app stores the buyers card details and shipping information and then uses that data to emulate the checkout process on supported merchant sites. Internet Retailer has a quick overview; TechCrunch has a bit more detail. More details about TapBuy Deals is available on the Kima Labs site.

Over on our sister blog, Payments Views, Glenbrook's Russ Jones has shared his thoughts on how the Siri "personal assistant" on the iPhone 4S might someday be payment-enabled.

Our particular interest in Siri here at Glenbrook is how this (or other) intelligent voice-aware agents might be enabled at some point to truly streamline how we buy stuff online. We think of it as “conversational commerce”.

The full post is available here.

On the web:

• Google Wallet Merchants Kick Off Mobile Payments With Discounts - AllThingsD
• Windstar Selects SeaPay for Payroll Debit Card - Cruise News
• BillGuard’s Scam-Seeking Service Captures $10M in Venture Funding - Wall Street Journal

On the wires:

• Adyen Opens for Business in Latin America
• Pay Anywhere Enhances its No Compromise Mobile Payment System for Apple and Android Users
• Western Union to Offer Money Transfer Services Through FOREX Bank in Nordic Countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden
• MOBIbucks and Advanced Integrated Systems Partner to Provide First Mobile Money Platform for the Caribbean
• mBlox Launches New Strategy and Digital Identity to Power Mobile Commerce

On the web:

• Facebook Caves To Apple On Mobile Payments on iOS - BusinessInsider
• Square Processing $2B In Payments Per Year, Has Signed Up 800K Merchants - TechCrunch
• eBay to Unveil Commerce Identity at X.Commerce Innovate DevCon - AuctionBytes
• Create Card-Free Rewards Programs with Apps - Entrepreneur.com
• ZipPay To Launch New Mobile Payments Service Cheaper Than Square - TechCrunch
• MasterCard To Equip Subway Restaurants For Mobile Payments - WSJ.com

On the wires:

• Merchant Warehouse Announces Best Practices for Small Businesses Affected by Recent Revisions to Interchange Fee
• VirtualPiggy Now Available to Merchants on eBay’s Magento Platform
• First Open Source In-app Payment Library for Android OS by SmsCoin Project

ERPLY has announced an iPad-optimized Mobile Card Reader.

The new credit card device connects to an iPad or iPhone and transmits a customer's encrypted credit card data to the ERPLY point-of-sale software and inventory management software suite to process payments. This gives retailers the ability to view real-time data and inventory analytics through the ERPLY inventory management system.

The ERPLY credit card reader is priced at $50 with a 1.9% transaction fee.

On the web:

• Is The Final Durbin Amendment Rule an Impetus for EMV in the US? - Portals and Rails
• Hungarian Mobile Operators form NFC Alliance - NFC World
• Sony Faces Legal Battle as Insurer Denies Liability on Data Breach - The Tech Herald
• FinTech Startups Wield Data and Smarts (see Zipmark Mobile Payments) - Reuters
• Mobile Point of Sale for Restaurants, on iPodTouch and iPhone Devices - Point of Sale News
• SparkBase’s Paycloud Aims To Bring Loyalty Cards To Mobile Phones - TechCrunch

On the wires:

• ParTech Offers VeriFone VeriShield Total Protect for its EverServ QSR POS Software
• Netbiscuits and Admeris Create Mobile Commerce Payment Partnership

Payfirma has announced an iPhone-based mobile payment acceptance app that is designed for the Canadian card acceptance market.

Payfirma’s proprietary app lets any business or consumer accept all major credit cards securely on an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. Users can swipe or manually input a credit card, capture a digital signature on the screen, and authorize the transaction within 10 seconds. A customizable receipt can then be emailed directly to the customer from within the app.

Adyen has announced the availability of a new single-click mobile payment pages solution for iPhone and Android. "The outsourced solution gives application developers the ability to implement an alternative payment solution to itunes that also accepts credit cards, PayPal and a range of other payment methods within mobile applications and mobile websites."

MoreMagic Solutions has announced the launch of its eTopUpOnline application for smartphones. "The application is now available across all major global mobile platforms, including Blackberry, Android, iPhone and Symbian."

AisleBuyer has announced that it now offers a "full multi-channel checkout solution to retailers and shoppers, available for iPhone and Android devices."

"After eliminating checkout lines with mobile self-checkout, we realized that in-store transactions and e-commerce transactions shouldn't be two separate things. In a single transaction, customers can now order some products for home delivery while walking out of the store with others," said Andrew Paradise, CEO of AisleBuyer. "With the addition of multi-channel checkout functionality, retailers and consumers have a true one-stop mobile shopping application at their disposal."

Square has announced a bunch of new features for its iPad POS solution. "The new, free Square Register app for iPad streamlines checkout, tracks sales, and makes it easy for businesses to communicate with customers on their mobile phones. The company also introduced Card Case, which enables iPhone and Android users to explore local businesses; view menus; track and store digital receipts; and open digital tabs to make instant, effortless purchases – all on their phones."

In related news, TechCrunch also reports the latest Square adoption metrics.

Corduro has announced a new mobile payment app that "lets non-profit and other organizations mobilize their volunteers in a whole new way. Available soon for iPhone, iPad or Android devices, users can share their passions by inviting others to connect with the Corduro community and join the charitable groups that they support. Corduro is kicking off this new app with a special site and contest at www.mobilizeyourarmy.com."

Merchant e-Solutions (MeS) has announced the roll out of a suite of mobile payment apps on their new PayEverywhere platform.

Early adopters of PayEverywhere mobile products include Mark Larson, Owner of Marblesoft, LLC. "We use the PayEverywhere iPhone payment solution at trade shows to take orders on the floor. For ease and reliability, it surpasses any other system we've tried."

On the wires:

• Despite Exemption, Small Issuers Expect Significant Decline in Interchange Revenue After Implementation of Durbin Amendment Provisions
• Verizon Wireless and USA Technologies Partner to Deliver Industry-Leading Cashless Payment Services, M2M Solutions for Vending and Automated Retail Industries
• Zuora Delivers New Invoicing Flexibility and Amendment Previews to April ‘11 Release
• New Junpier Research Report on Mobile Ticketing for Transport Markets

On the web:

• Amazon Payments Blog: Amazon Payments Launches in Germany
• New York Times: Possible Sony PlayStation Network Card Data Breach
• MIT Technology Review: Your iPhone Can Buy Your Groceries

Zuora has announced the launch of its Zuora for Communications solution, which marries Zuora's subscription commerce platform with Salesforce.com's customer care applications.

Zuora for Communications enables communications services providers to price, quote, and take orders on the front end and manage and monetize subscribers on the back end for any type of services from broadband, WIFI, 4G, VOIP, unified communications, and wireless devices such as the iPhone, iPad, Android.

Cardmobili has announced the launch of a free application for consumers that it says "takes advantage of cloud computing infrastructure to unburden consumers from carrying physical loyalty, membership, rewards and association cards and makes them available on their mobile phone. Cardmobili’s smart application aligns merchants and consumers with personalized communication, heightened services and greater control and ease of managing all types of card affiliations and programs through one central device." READ MORE »

Apple has introduced a new Apple Store iPhone application that provides a new interface to buying from the online Apple Store. In addition to shopping from the application, it provides the location and directions to the nearest Apple retail store, allows scheduling of Personal Shopping, Genius Bar, and One to One appointments, and sign up for workshops and events at local Apple Stores. [Editor's note: I used the new Apple Store app to reserve my new iPhone 4 for pickup next week!]

MasterCard has announced the availability of the MasterCard MoneySend service for iPhone and iPad users - providing a new way to transfer money in the United States from person-to person from iPhone or iPad's. MasterCard MoneySend is now available for free download at the iPhone App Store. READ MORE »

Monitise Americas has announced that PyraMax Bank has launched an iPhone app powered by its technology. According to Monitise, "the release heralds a turning point in the mobile banking industry. Until now, bank-branded iPhone applications have been the privilege only of big-spending, large banks. However, thanks to its world-class technology, Monitise Americas can now build iPhone apps quickly and cost effectively, enabling mobile banking for many more financial institutions than previously possible." READ MORE »

Magento has introduced Magento Mobile - calling it "a new product that addresses the need for merchants to reach consumers through mobile devices." Magento mobile integrates with Magento’s e-commerce platform and uses PayPal’s mobile payments library to streamline checkout on a mobile device. Magento Mobile "transforms a retailer’s product catalog into a fully-functional, branded, native application which merchants can use to interact and transact with their most valuable customers in a way unlike any other channel." READ MORE »

DeviceFidelity has announced the availability of In2Pay™ - combining DeviceFidelity’s In2Pay microSD technology with a "patent-pending protective case that adds mobile contactless capability and works with iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G." DeviceFidelity and Visa collaborated to combine Visa's PayWave contactless payment technology with DeviceFidelity's In2Pay technology. READ MORE »

TD has announced that since the launch of its TD mobile app for iPhone and iPod touch devices, the app has been averaging more than 10,000 downloads per day.

"In just over a week, more than 100,000 customers are now ready to bank on the go, wherever and whenever they want," said Joan Dal Bianco, Vice President, Online Channel, TD. "The TD mobile app not only allows customers access to everyday banking at their fingertips, but also delivers the ease and convenience to contact TD Waterhouse to get a quote, place a trade or to reach TD Insurance for help with insurance needs."

TD is also active on Facebook. READ MORE »

As part of a broader announcement about enhancements to its MasterCard Easy Savings Program for small businesses, MasterCard is providing a free, location-enabled Easy Savings iPhone and iPod Touch application for the iPhone that enables small businesses to find participating MasterCard Easy Savings Program merchants "on the go."

The MasterCard Easy Savings Program app maps a user’s current location and displays participating program merchants with offers in the area. Offers are displayed with icons identifying the type of merchant and can be viewed on a “radar screen” with a user’s current location as the center, on a map with local streets and highways, or in list format. The app provides relevant merchant and offer details in a portable, easy-to-use format, making it easy for small businesses to save money on the go. The app is available for download through the Apple iTunes App Store.

Earlier today, Apple held an announcement event in Cupertino for version 4.0 of its iPhone OS - scheduled for availability later this summer.

Among the many new features for end-users and developers is a new mobile advertising platform that Apple is calling iAd. iAd provides application developers with a way to integrate a powerful advertising revenue stream right into their applications - and to receive a majority of the revenue from the advertising. To learn more about iAd, watch this video of today's announcement event - the iAd discussion begins about 44 minutes into the video.

What are the implications of this for financial services players? Do you have a mobile application strategy? If so, have you thought about whether advertising is a component of your app - or not?

You can bet that the most innovative financial services mobile app developers will be focusing on the new iAd capability as 4.0 nears launch this summer. Whether incumbents do - or not - will be fascinating to watch!

PayPal has announced that its PayPal Mobile iPhone app has been downloaded over one million times in less than three weeks since it was released on March 15, 2010. The application is available as a free download from the Apple iTunes store online or the Apple App Store from any iPhone or iPod Touch. For more information on PayPal Mobile, visit https://www.paypal.com/mobile. READ MORE »

VeriFone Holdings has announced that Chase Paymentech has been selected as the preferred provider of new merchant accounts for buyers of VeriFone’s PAYware Mobile iPhone card payment solution sold through Apple Retail Stores and the Apple Store online beginning April 6. READ MORE »

Starbucks has announced that customers can now pay for purchases at Starbucks stores in more than 1,000 Target locations nationwide through their Apple iPhone or iPod touch devices. The mobile payment capability at Starbucks stores in Target locations is the first expansion of this payment capability since last fall when Starbucks launched its Starbucks Card Mobile and myStarbucks Apps. Starbucks stores in the Target store locations join the 16 stores in Seattle and Northern California that currently accept mobile payment using the Starbucks Card Mobile App. In addition to mobile payment, Starbucks Card Mobile allows customers to set up and register a Starbucks Card, check their Starbucks Card balance and reload their Starbucks Card using a credit card. READ MORE »

Boingo Wireless has announced a new application designed for iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad users that "allows consumers to purchase one-hour credits for Wi-Fi service directly from their Apple iTunes account. Consumers can purchase the $1.99 Wi-Fi credits in advance or at the time of connect simply by confirming the purchase using their iTunes account login. The credits can be redeemed for 60 consecutive minutes of Wi-Fi access at a single Boingo hotspot, and can be used at any of the more than 125,000 Boingo hotspots worldwide." READ MORE »