comScore has released an inaugural study of the mobile financial services industry with a new report titled Mobile Financial Services: The Market Today & Opportunities for Tomorrow. The report provides a look at the current state of the industry and mobile financial users, and highlights areas for potential growth in this rapidly evolving market. READ MORE

ClairMail has announced a record number of new customers and a 200 percent year-over-year revenue increase for the second quarter ending June 2009. The company says this record quarter "continues the rapid growth trend the company has experienced in the past 12 months." READ MORE

Mobile Money Ventures has announced it has teamed up with Citibank to offer the first browser-based mobile banking solution in the Philippines. Citi Mobile Banking allows customers to securely manage their banking needs from their mobile handsets at any time and from any location. READ MORE

Visa and NeuStar have announced a strategic alliance they say is "designed to accelerate the adoption of mobile financial services globally." According to the companies, "the alliance will combine the reliability, scale and security of Visa’s global payment network with NeuStar’s carrier grade infrastructure which provides critical interconnection services to global network operators and their partners enabling seamless delivery of mobile services to consumers worldwide." READ MORE

Fiserv has announced that it is now providing its Mobile Money service to Bangkok Bank, one of the only banks in Thailand using an international mobile banking solution. Customers can now access Bangkok Bank's internet banking platform, Bualuang iBanking, on their mobile phone, enabling them to view account information, pay bills, transfer funds and top up their mobile phone account. The application is available in both English and Thai languages. Powered by technology from Atlanta-based M-Com, Inc. Mobile Money from Fiserv was launched in September 2008. READ MORE

In an article titled "Testing the limits of new banking technology", ContactlessNews reports on recent trials by US Bank of NFC-equipped mobile phones, contactless stickers, smartphone-based mobile banking and small contactless payment keyfobs.

Javelin Strategy & Research has released a new report that shows how it believes that financial institutions must create a Customer-Driven Architecture (CDA) that gives customers what research shows they want most: financial control. According to Javelin, "with many consumers’ finances in shambles, today’s economy is the perfect time to finally put customers in charge. The seven attributes of CDA outlined in the report shows bankers how to prioritize technology investments in order to achieve iPhone-like monetary control." READ MORE

Fiserv, has introduced Mobile Money FastTrack - calling it "a straightforward mobile banking solution that can be rapidly deployed by financial institutions." Mobile Money FastTrack is a streamlined version of the flagship Mobile Money solution introduced by Fiserv in 2008. READ MORE

Discover Financial Services has announced the launch of Mobile Reminders -"designed to help cardmembers stay on top of their accounts and help manage debt better. This new service allows cardmembers to have more control over their finances and easier access to their Discover® Card accounts. Discover.com registered users can log in and select to receive any of eight Account Activity reminders via text (SMS) message or email. The Mobile Reminders provide cardmembers with important account information that is sent directly to their mobile device." READ MORE

Despite the general downturn in the banking industry, new research from TowerGroup finds that 2009 will be a pivotal year for mobile banking as it turns from a niche channel to a mainstream channel for consumer banking. TowerGroup estimates that mobile banking usage will grow from 10 million active users in 2009 to over 53 million active users in 2013, representing a compound annual growth rate of 51.8%. READ MORE

Wells Fargo has announced a new Wells Fargo Mobile Banking service for iPhone and iPod touch users (opens in iTunes) - now available free from Apple’s App Store. Customers can check account balances, move money between Wells Fargo accounts and pay bills. In addition, Wells Fargo Mobile Banking is integrated with the iPhone and iPod touch built-in maps feature so customers can search for the nearest ATM or Wells Fargo banking store with the touch-of-a-button. READ MORE

mFoundry has announced that its mBanking product has been enhanced to include integrated support for text banking (SMS) and alerts, as well as support for mBanking within the mobile web browser (WAP). READ MORE

Edgar, Dunn & Co. recently developed a whitepaper in cooperation with Sybase 365 entitled ‘Realizing the Full Potential of Mobile Commerce’. According to EDC, "stakeholders in the mobile commerce ecosystem will need to collaborate in order to bring flexibility to the consumer – the cornerstone needed for the success of mobile commerce. This will ultimately require orchestration to bring the stakeholders together and also manage the complexity of the mobile commerce ecosystem." You can also download the paper from the Sybase web site by registering.

Wesabe has introduced a free application "to help consumers track and manage their money on their iPhone or iPod Touch. Wesabe's iPhone app lets members: view all of their bank and credit card accounts in one place; track their cash spending on the go; edit, categorize and tag their purchases; and set up and monitor spending targets via their phone. When consumers input a purchase, the app saves time on typing by offering up the names of the closest merchants, using the phone's GPS and Yahoo! Local APIs." READ MORE

MasterCard has announced that the MasterCard ATM Hunter application is now available as a free download on the Apple iTunes App Store. ATM Hunter lets iPhone and iPod touch users easily locate the nearest ATM no matter where in the world they are. READ MORE

KPMG has announced results of a survey of U.S. consumers finding that they "believe mobile banking is important but do no not want to pay for it and also are wary of using their mobile devices such as cell phones, smartphones, and personal digital assistants (PDAs) for financial transactions and online banking." READ MORE

CGAP, a microfinance group based at the World Bank, has announced it is supporting WIZZIT Bank, a division of the South African Bank of Athens Limited, to deliver banking services to poor people in South Africa's small towns and rural areas. READ MORE

NYCE has announced that it will offer balance inquiries by text message to its financial institution participants as a standard feature of full participation in the NYCE Network. The service will be powered by Monitise Americas. READ MORE

In an article titled "Nokia Makes a Call for Global Mobile Payments", Steve Bills writes for the American Banker about Nokia's investment in mobile payments provider Obopay. Bills cites a Nokia executive who compares the integration of cameras into mobile phones over the last few years with the potential for mobile banking and payments being similarly integrated - although the Nokia exec "declined to give details about the Obopay investment or to say whether Nokia plans to incorporate the technology in its phones."

The Carphone Warehouse, one of Europe's mobile phone retailers, and Monitise have announced a partnership "that will bring mobile financial services to millions of people at a time when they most need it. The alliance covers a wide variety of initiatives ranging from the pre-seeding of Monitise’s patented mobile money application on leading handsets, to 'in store' and 'online' promotions and incentives for consumers to get linked up to their money 24/7." READ MORE

Yodlee has announced the Yodlee Software Development Kit (SDK) Entrepreneur Edition, making Yodlee's data and payments technologies available to new developers and entrepreneurs worldwide. READ MORE

Despite regulatory challenges and the financial crisis, policymakers are embracing mobile banking as a means of providing financial access to the unbanked poor. More than a billion people worldwide lack bank accounts, but do have mobile phones, providing a dramatic opportunity to achieve greater financial inclusion, according to officials meeting near London today. READ MORE

Huntington Bank has announced that its customers can now stay on top of their finances with Huntington Text Banking. The bank described it as "a secure, convenient and easy way for Huntington customers to access their bank accounts anytime, anywhere, using a cell phone or mobile device." READ MORE

ClairMail has announced that the banks using its ClairMail System are experiencing "tremendous adoption and usage, with some banks getting well over 90% of mobile banking consumers signing up for and receiving bank-defined and user-defined 2-way alerts." READ MORE

Monitise Americas and Metavante have announced the launch of text message banking services - allowing consumers to use text messaging to obtain any-time balance information on their accounts. The service also enables consumers to set alerts, to notify them when their balance is low or when their payroll deposit has arrived. READ MORE

The CTIA has published “Best Practices and Guidelines for Mobile Financial Services (MFS)” - which were unanimously approved by America’s leading wireless carrier companies. According to the CTIA, "this voluntary initiative was developed to provide consumers with a high level of safety and security for mobile banking, commerce and payments products and services." READ MORE

Fiserv has announced the results of recent market research that quantified the interest among banks and credit unions for mobile deposit capture and gauged their views on potential customer acceptance. Mobile deposit capture is an extension of remote deposit capture (RDC) that enables checks to be deposited anywhere via a mobile phone equipped with a camera to create and send an image of the check. READ MORE

The GSMA and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have announced an innovative program that "will expand the availability of financial services to millions of people in the developing world through mobile phones. The Mobile Money for the Unbanked (MMU) programme, supported by a US$12.5 million grant from the foundation, will work with mobile operators, banks, microfinance institutions, government and development organizations to encourage the expansion of reliable, affordable mobile financial services to the unbanked." READ MORE

CGAP, the global microfinance center, is releasing new research and data to encourage telecom operators, financial institutions and governments to see the business potential in expanding access to financial services for poor people in developing markets. According to CGAP, "the current economic climate makes the need for widespread availability of safe alternatives to cash even more pressing." READ MORE