Visa announced that it has extended its issuer processing platform, Visa DPS, to offer mobile services that are fully managed by Visa and can be accessed with any mobile device, any mobile channel, and with any eligible debit, credit or prepaid account.

“The services offered by Visa DPS are a one-stop solution for Visa clients who want to serve their customers through the mobile channel without making significant investments in hardware, software or mobile expertise,” said John Partridge, President, Visa Inc. “Through our ongoing investments in Visa DPS, our clients can not only take advantage of Visa’s scale and expertise in payments processing, but also have the opportunity to easily implement Visa’s extensive roadmap of mobile innovations – from mobile banking, to NFC payments, and to our digital wallet, V.me.”

Mozido announced the launch of the 'Genius Wallet', a global mobile wallet platform for the unbanked and banked.

"Our Genius Wallet(SM) brings every mobile phone user, including the unbanked, into a secure, convenient, and efficient financial ecosystem," says Greg Corona, CEO, Mozido LLC "It offers opportunity and hope for a huge population worldwide, empowering them to enjoy a broad range of banking and financial services often for the first time, using their mobile phone."

In December, Mozido and MoneyGram struck a partnership to include MoneyGram remittance transfer services for approved Mozido mobile wallet applications.

Fiserv announced the results of a survey of the mobile banking and payment plans of top-tier financial institutions.

The in-depth survey, conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Fiserv in September 2011, evaluated the plans of 10 banks and credit unions that in total hold more than one-third of all U.S. deposit accounts. The results revealed that these financial institutions are moving beyond the basics to deliver increasingly sophisticated mobile capabilities. Transactional services such as remote deposit capture and mobile person-to-person payments will account for the bulk of mobile investment in 2012. However, despite a nearly unanimous commitment to expand overall mobile functionality, institutions remain split on plans to support mobile point-of-sale payments.

A white paper detailing the survey results can be downloaded from the Fiserv website.

MasterCard and Telefónica have announced they are forming a joint venture to offer mobile financial solutions for 65 million Vivo consumers in Brazil. "The initiative will create a mobile wallet allowing consumers to make payments via their mobile phones as well as transfer funds, pay bills and make online purchases."

m-Via announced the launch of the Boom mobile money service. "Boom members can use their mobile phone to make money transfers of any size from $5 to $1000, as well as make purchases and withdrawals at participating Boom Merchants and Boom ATMs."

Boom launch partners include 7-Eleven(R) Inc. (powered by PayNearMe Inc.), the Allpoint(R) ATM Network, the Diconsa retail network in Mexico, and PayXchange. Through these partners, Boom Members have access to more than 15,000 U.S. cash load locations, 23,000 Boom merchants in Mexico, and over 150,000 Boom ATMs in the U.S. and Mexico, and another 650,000 ATMs in more than 150 countries.

comScore has announced its recent analysis of mobile financial services usage in the U.S. showing that "32.5 million Americans accessed mobile banking information on their devices at the end of Q2 2011 in June, representing 13.9% of all mobile users. The study also revealed that 12.7 million mobile users reported using banking apps, showing a notable increase of 45% from Q4 2010."

Pageonce has announced a mobile bill pay service that gives consumers remote control over when and how they pay their bills.

The award-winning Pageonce Money & Bills already lets users automatically track all types of bills -- from rent and mortgage, utilities, and cell phone to credit cards -- and alerts them when a bill is due. Now Pageonce gives users the option to pay immediately from their choice of accounts with a few taps on their smartphone. Pageonce makes paper bills, checks and stamps, and logging into several different websites for online bill pay, obsolete -- helping users save time and avoid annoying late and overdraft fees.

Mitek Systems hgas announced an innovative application for the financial services industry that enables consumers to switch bank credit card accounts as simply as “Point, Shoot and Transfer" using Mitek Mobile Balance Transfer.

The mobile application enables a bank’s customer to use a smartphone camera to take a picture of a competitor’s credit card payment coupon. The customer transmits the information to the bank, which then can offer the customer a better interest rate to incent the customer to open a new credit card account and transfer an existing balance.

Fiserv has announced the 'Mobiliti' suite of products for mobile banking, mobile alerts, and mobile payments.

Mobiliti unites the functionality of Mobile Money from Fiserv and BankAnywhere from the recently acquired M-Com within a single product suite, and will replace both of those product brands. Mobiliti is available in multiple distinct versions tailored for use by financial institutions of varying sizes within both the United States and international markets.

Mobiliti supports all three major mobile access modes -- SMS, mobile browser, and downloadable app.

Citibank has unveiled its first-ever consumer banking app designed specifically for iPad.

“Our iPad app is all about listening to our clients and understanding that they need their digital banking experience to be more engaging and dynamic – beyond the standard static tables you find with other iPad apps,” said Tracey Weber, Head of Internet and Mobile Banking, North America Consumer Banking, Citi. “We’re offering a whole new way of banking, with enhanced visuals and interactive tools. We’re focused on continually offering modern solutions that help put ease into our clients’ financial lives, wherever and whenever.”

On the web:

• Using Facebook Credits as Ecommerce Sales Incentives - AuctionBytes
• PSECU's Remote Deposit Honor System - NetBanker
• 18 Fun Facts About Credit Cards - MSN Money
• 10 Reasons I'm Cancelling My Credit Cards - SmartMoney.com
• California Replacing Unemployment Checks with Debit Cards - Bakersfield.com
• Korean Govt To Credit Card Firms: We’re Watching You - Wall Street Journal
• Tapjoy Scores $30M to Boost Mobile App Monetization - FierceMobileContent
• Blaming the Fed’s Durbin Rule, Tempo Payments Prepares to Shut Down - Digital Transactions

On the wires:

• Spendvision’s new eMoney Module Enables Businesses to Track and Manage NFC Transactions
• Regions Bank Introduces Personal Pay to Send and Receive Electronic, P2P Payments
• CoVantage Credit Union Selects Tyfone to Deliver Next Generation Mobile Wallet Services
• U.S. Bank and Monitise Americas Introduce Free Mobile Banking Service for ReliaCard Visa Cardholders

Intuit has announced it has acquired mobile Web banking technology assets from Mobile Money Ventures, or MMV, a "leading global provider of next-generation mobile financial solutions."

Mobile Money Ventures, based in San Mateo, Calif., was formed in 2008 as a joint venture that combined the strengths of Citigroup, a leading, global financial services company, and SK Telecom Americas, an early-stage technology innovator.

On the web:

• Isis Plans Mobile Payments Launch in Austin - Reuters
• Merchants Shred Costs of Payments by Plastic - Wall Street Journal

On the wires:

• U.S. Bank Launches Payment Plus to Automate Business Payments in Canada
• New Corporate Insight Report on Mobile Finance Landscape
• Cardtronics to Acquire EDC ATM Business

Fiserv has announced that "more than 375 financial institutions have agreed to use Mobile Money from Fiserv, the company’s flagship mobile banking and payments solution. Almost 200 of these banks and credit unions are already live on the service, a figure that has more than doubled within the last 12 months."

Payment Alliance International (PAI) and MagTek have jointly announced the deployment of MagTek’s Qwick Codes across PAI’s nationwide network of over 50,000 ATM machines.

“Qwick Codes illustrates our goal of expanding and improving the consumers’ ability to use their smartphones to conduct everyday financial transactions,” said Andy Deignan, MagTek vice president of global marketing and strategy. Deignan adds, “In line with offering the high level of security MagTek is known for, static card data converted into a one-time use Qwick Code can be used to retrieve cash at any supported ATM, effectively eliminating the risk associated with compromised ATMs rigged with card skimmers.”

Fiserv sponsored a survey of top US banking executives to see where they stand regarding mobile.

Forrester surveyed 15 decision makers in October 2010 from top tier U.S. banks and credit unions to evaluate the current and future state of mobile banking and payments within their organizations. The results indicated that the majority of financial institutions have clear-cut mobile banking strategies. However, when it comes to mobile payments, most see themselves in the role of “fast follower” and are waiting for market changes and movement from “pace setters” before investing heavily.

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.

Jan ChipChase and Panthea Lee were in Afghanistan to investigate how people use mobile phones to do their banking. The findings from the field study are now available for download, along with a number of images captured on the trip. The "notes from the field" are definitely worth reading. The research was funded by the IMTFI (Institute for Money, Technology, and Financial Inclusion) at the University of California at Irvine.

Fiserv today announced that it has acquired Mobile Commerce Ltd. (M-Com), an "international mobile banking and payments provider, to enhance Fiserv’s existing mobile channel capabilities. The two companies have been partners since 2008, developing and delivering Mobile Money™ from Fiserv to hundreds of financial institutions. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed."

Yankee Group has announced a new report that indicates while mobile transaction usage is growing, consumers show little willingness to pay for these services.

The company’s forecasts predict unprecedented growth in mobile transactions worldwide, with the total value of global mobile transactions increasing from $162 billion in 2010 to $984 billion in 2014. However, Yankee Group’s consumer survey results show that less than 10 percent of respondents would be willing to pay extra for mobile transaction services such as mobile banking, mobile coupons and mobile payments.

Nokia Siemens Networks and MoreMagic Solutions have announced a global partnership to provide mobile commerce and financial services. "The jointly developed Mobile Payment Solution enables the delivery of a wide range of services including money transfer, mobile banking, mobile payments and near field communication (NFC) proximity payments."

On the wires:

• Vesta and Jibe Mobile Deliver Integrated Mobile Payments Application
• Banks Launch Integrated Mobile Banking Solution from First Data
• VeriFone’s VeriShield Total Protect Integrated with ISD’s Card Data Security Suite
• iSmartCheck Identifies Why Merchants Need to Add Electronic Checks to Their Payment Options
• Naked Facts Report: QR Code Use Explodes by 1200% in the Last Half of 2010

On the web:

• BAI Banking Strategies: Crossing Borders with ACH
• Bank Systems & Technology: Debit Card Fee Caps May Be No Big Deal
• Wall Street Journal: KT to Become Largest Stakeholder in BC Card in Korea
• Inside Mobile Apps: Android Opens Up More NFC Access for Developers
• RCR Wireless: DoCoMo and KT announce NFC Joint Venture in Asia/Pacific
• RFP Connect: Ukash Extends Its Presence into Brazil and Argentina
• Wall Street Journal: Chargebacks Create Small-Business Headaches
• WebProNews: PayPal Digital Goods Payment Product Released

On the wires:

• Visa Europe and Monitise Sign Partnership Agreement to Develop Mobile Payments
• MoneyGram International and Movistar Sign Strategic Agreement
• INSIDE Secure Brings Biometric On-Card Matching Security to SecuRead NFC Solution
• MoneyGram and Visa Extend Remittance Service to World's Largest Remittances Corridor
• INETCO “Ready to Rocket” with INETCO Insight Business Transaction Management Solution
• ProPay Debuts 'Zumogo' Mobile Payment Application for Smartphones
• BillFloat Gives NewWave Communications Customers More Time to Pay Bills
• The Clearing House Announces New Board Leadership (PDF)
• TomorrowVentures & CompuCredit Holdings Corporation Invest in Social Payments Leader Twitpay

On the web:

• Rethink Wireless: Ericsson Unveils its Mobile Money Framework
• American Banker: Mobile Banking Pioneer Firethorn Shifts Gears
• Springwise: More donations to charity via rounded-up credit card purchases
• U.S. News: 8 Things You Can’t Do With Cash

Digicel and Scotiabank have announced the launch of their mobile money product in Haiti. "TchoTcho Mobile allows Haitians to complete basic banking functions such as cash withdrawals, deposits and transfers safely and securely through their mobile phone and does not require them to have a traditional bank account."

Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners:

• CashStar Powers New Staples eGift Card Offering
• New Celent Report on the State of Remote Deposit Capture 2010
• Customers Go Online to Pay Bills Offline via PayNearMe
• New First Annapolis Report on Mobile Banking & Payments
• Magento and Merchant e-Solutions eCommerce Platform Partnership
• FirstPartner Releases 2010 UK Mobile Marketing Market Map Released

Monitise has announced its enhanced technology platform which "incorporates a range of mobile banking and payment services to deliver fast, secure financial management by mobile phone across the world. The platform enables financial institutions, mobile phone networks, service providers, payment companies and processors to offer a wide variety of Mobile Money services in both developed and emerging markets." READ MORE »

Obopay has announced new functionality for its Mobile Money for Banks offering, broadening the scope of mobile transaction capabilities for banks and their customers. The new capabilities for Mobile Money for Banks include mobile transfer capabilities between accounts at different banks, get paid tools including text-to-donate and text-to-pay, and features that make it easier for small businesses or even individuals to accept electronic payments.

mFoundry today announced that based on its nearly banking 200 customers, the use of its mobile banking platform now exceeds the one-million user mark.

"While there are some reports indicating that mobile banking growth is slowing, our experience is the complete opposite," commented Sievers. "Over the past nine months, we've seen an average of 10 to 15 new customer signings per month across our direct and channel sales efforts. User adoption is also scaling rapidly with average sequential monthly growth of more than 10%, or nearly 300% annual growth."

KeyBank is among the first US banks to offer mobile banking to all customers, independent of online banking enrollment -- it can be used by those who use online banking as well as offline clients who use the branch channel. Mobile Money from Fiserv incorporates technology from Atlanta-based mobile banking and payments solution provider M-Com. READ MORE »

Mobile banking and the use of mobile devices for financial transactions and payments are increasingly gaining acceptance among U.S. consumers, according to results of a survey conducted by KPMG.

The results of KPMG's fourth annual Global Consumers and Convergence survey show that 19 percent of U.S. consumers have conducted banking transactions on a mobile device, compared to only 9 percent when KPMG last completed this survey 18 months ago. More than 5,600 people in 22 countries worldwide participated in the survey.