On the web:

• Google Taps George Costanza as 'Google Wallet' Pitchman (Video) - PCMag.com
• MasterCard Defends Google Wallet Ahead of Its Official Launch - AllThingsD
• Carriers Increasingly Laying Claim on Android Market through Direct Billing - telecoms.com
• Turkcell Ramps Up Mobile Payments Technology - NFCNews

On the wires:

• Bottomline Technologies’ Paymode-X Network Reaches 150,000 Vendors
• Visa’s Yearly Payments Volume in Latin America and the Caribbean Grew to 26.2%
• E-Debit Global Corporation Launches Proprietary Mobile Payments Platform
• eLayaway Connected to 14 Million Consumers, Including Military Families and Federal Employees
• BillShrink Changes Its Name to Truaxis
• Fiserv to Produce Personalized EMV Cards
• FleetCor Enters Mexican Fuel Card Market

C-SAM has announced it has licensed its wallet management platform and software development kit (SDK) to Isis to support the Isis Mobile Commerce Platform. "The C-SAM platform will enable Isis to offer smartphone users a comprehensive mobile wallet for conducting secure near-field-communication (NFC) transactions related to payments, rewards, coupons, tickets, transit and other services."

NXP Semiconductors, AuthenTec, and DeviceFidelity have announced they are jointly developing reference designs that enable highly secure mobile payments via Android-based phones through the use of fingerprint biometrics and near field communication (NFC) technology. "Reference designs created by the companies are expected to help mobile phone OEMs and wireless carriers address the growing demand for NFC-capable smart phones."

On the web:

• How Wal-Mart Swiped JPMorgan in $16 Billion Debit-Card Lobbying Battle - Bloomberg
• PayPal Retires Money Market Fund - AuctionBytes
• BillMyParents.com Traffic Spikes to 600,000 Unique Visitors - NetBanker
• Symantec: Android and iOS differ widely on security - Rethink Wireless
• Accel Puts $34 Million In Online Payments Platform Braintree - TechCrunch
• Appeals Court Upholds Denial in Debit Fee Case - Forbes.com
• Zong Calls for Lower Operator Revenue Shares - GSMA Mobile Business Briefing
• Group files FTC complaint over Facebook Credits - MarketWatch
• Credit Card Problems Abroad - Readers Respond - NYTimes.com

On the wires:

• Dynamics Inc. Raises $35 Million in Series B Funding
• PayCommerce Announces Processor-Agnostic Gateway Services for ISOs
• ReadSoft Enters into Global e-Invoicing Partnership with OB10
• Zuora Adds Support Four Leading Payment Gateways

Naratte, a Silicon Valley-based start-up, has announced that it can provide the benefits of near-field communication (NFC) with ultrasonic technology by using using the speaker and microphone already found on mobile devices.

This new technology, called Zoosh™, is highly engineered software that communicates in frequencies that are inaudible to humans, but are used in nature by frogs, dolphins and other animals. With one software update, an App can now become Zoosh-powered to securely transfer data between millions of devices already in use by consumers.

Works across devices, works on both smartphones and flip phones, etc. Watch the video for an overview of Zoosh in various application scenarios.

AisleBuyer has announced that it has added card capture technology to its roster of mobile retail solutions.

"Card capture is a natural extension of our mobile self-checkout strategy," said Dan Preston, CTO of AisleBuyer. "By enabling payments through computer vision technology, retailers have an easier way for customers to pay, thus increasing customer satisfaction with the shopping experience."

On the wires:

• FreedomPay Opens World’s Most Flexible Payment Gateway to Independent Developers
• 10 Million UK Consumers Using Mobile Commerce but 83% Have Experienced Problems
• New Aite Group Report on Network Branded Prepaid Cards
• SIMalliance Open Mobile API boosts Smartphone Application Security
• MasterCard SpendingPulse March 2011 Retail Report
• Visa Europe: Q1 UK Expenditure Index

On the web:

• BBC: NFC Trials for Payment in UK Shops
• Slate: Paying With Your Phone Is Awesome, Because... Because.

Recent white papers:

• Bell ID: Six Myths Preventing EMV Migration in the United States
• First Data: The Marketing Side of Tokenization (PDF)
• SJB Research: NFC Business Models (registration required)
• Ensenta: Agile Risk Management for Remote Deposit Capture

Zenius Solutions has announced the "world’s first universal NFC Transactions Suite, a modular set of frameworks and applications that facilitate rapid NFC deployment." The Suite features a re-brandable electronic wallet and Zenius Open-loop MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover applets. The website is www.zenius.com.

Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners:

• Visa Payments Volume in Asia Pacific Increases 12.0% to US$800 billion
• HID Global Launches a Complete Family of Secure Contactless Payment and Identification Stickers
• DBS Customers with StarHub Plans are the First to Use the New NFC Mobile Payment Solution in Singapore
• 'WorldPay' Global Payments Business Gears Up for Growth as Purchase From RBS Group Completes

• Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago: Why Do Banks Reward Their Customers to Use Their Credit Cards?
• FoxNews.com: THIS Will Be Your Next Wallet
• Wireless Week: Samsung Unveils New NFC Chip
• Forbes: How The Feds Use Credit Card Companies To Conduct Instant Surveillance
• Bank Technology News: ING Jumps into inControl

Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners:

• Discover Begins Rollout of Contactless Devices to Consumers
• Commidea Leads Contactless Transactions Adoption in UK
• INSIDE Contactless Launches SecuRead System-in-Package for NFC Mobile Devices
• iPayDNA and Payment Network AG (aka sofortüberweisung.de) Establish Business Partnership
• GlobalCollect Obtains License Pursuant To European Payment Service Directive

• Wall Street Journal: Card Issuers Reward Purchases
• MIT Technology Review: Shopping via Text Message
• MediaNama: Seven Indian Banks Launch P2P Interbank Mobile Payments; How It Works
• New York Times: For PayPal, the Future is Mobile
• ArcticStartup: Fortumo Expands To Thailand
• China Business News: China UnionPay Expands Services in Switzerland
• Reuters: EU Set to Accept Visa Europe Antitrust Offer
• Digital Transactions: Retailers See Gift Cards Boom As They Stress Reloadability
• GlobalTimes: Alipay Tops 500 Million Users
• Portals and Rails: Prepaid in the Mobile Channel - Balancing Financial Inclusion and Risk Management

U.S. Bank and Visa have announced they are partnering with DeviceFidelity, FIS and Monitise to introduce a mobile POS capability for Visa payWave contactless payment terminals.

Issued by U.S. Bank, a DeviceFidelity In2Pay™ microSD is inserted in the customer’s mobile phone or within a specially-designed iPhone case (In2Pay iCaisse™). Visa and DeviceFidelity recently introduced the patent-pending In2Pay microSD based mobile contactless technology and the associated In2Pay iCaisse solution. FIS and Monitise developed the application that enables customers to make mobile purchases and access account information as part of the U.S. Bank pilot.

Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners:

• Vindicia Secures $20 Million in Series E Financing
• iPhone Credit Card Swiper Adds Retail Transaction Support to Swipe Credit Card Terminal
• Square Enix Selects PlaySpan's UltimatePay for Payment Processing Services
• TransCard Announces a Turnkey Bank and Prepaid Processing Solution for Members of the Prepaid Community
• European Specialists Team Up to Define Security Standards for Next-Generation Mobile Devices

• TechCrunch: Amazon Now Allows You To Send Gift Cards To Friends On Facebook

Mitek has announced a new app that lets users pay bills with their smartphone camera.

After establishing online-bill-payment arrangements as part of their banking account, users of Mobile Photo Bill Pay can initiate e-bill-payment sessions on their smartphones, then simply snap photos of the bills they want to pay, verify the payment information and click on the app's "PAY" button.

First Data and SK C&C USA have announced a strategic global partnership to bring mobile commerce services to the US and eventually worldwide. SK C&C has successfully provided services to securely provision mobile phones with card data in the South Korean market since 2002.

The SK C&C TSM platform will enable First Data’s financial institutions and merchant customers to securely and efficiently issue payment cards, including credit and debit cards, prepaid and gift cards to the mobile device. Services offered by the partnership are expected to be commercially available in Q1 2011 in the US.

Visa Europe recently announced that it is launching Europe’s first microSD-based mobile payment systems in Turkey with its technology partner, DeviceFidelity, and Akbank, one of Turkey’s leading retail banks.

Mary Carol Harris, Head of Mobile, Visa Europe said: "One of the key challenges to the success of mobile payments is the supply and availability of NFC handsets. Until a majority of mobile handsets offered in the market are supplied with integrated NFC, Visa is proactively working with innovators like DeviceFidelity and pioneers such as Akbank to harness the potential of new technologies. These solutions make the future of payment real today and are key to accelerating mobile payments in Turkey and across Europe."

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 »

Citi Cards has announced a new location-based mobile application called Citi Shopper that delivers "local offers and deals, compares prices, provides maps to nearby retailers, as well as reminds Citi cardmembers of offers and benefits specific to their Citi credit cards." The application was built by GPShopper and is available on the iPhone, Blackberry, Android and via browser.

In addition, Citi is making available MasterCard PayPass stickers that can be affixed to the back of mobile phones for contactless payments - and will also be providing a PayPass locator application to help cardholders find PayPass-accepting merchants. READ MORE »

ARM and Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) have announced a strategic partnership for the development of highly secure mobile phone platforms. According to the two companies, "through the combination of ARM TrustZone technology, which creates a protected area in advanced systems-on-chip, and the highly secure Mobicore operating system developed by G&D, sensitive applications such as electronic payment and online banking via mobile phone will be efficiently protected from security threats. As a first step the two companies will develop a joint prototype." READ MORE »

Gemalto has announced that it has acquired Valimo Wireless, a mobile authentication company based in Helsinki, Finland. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

According to Gemalto, "Valimo has pioneered the use of two-channel, two-factor authentication based on Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), combining an over the air platform (OTA) with a software client in the SIM to generate a legally binding electronic signature, any time, any place. Valimo enables mobile phone users to securely authenticate themselves, digitally sign documents and confirm legally binding transactions simply by entering a self-chosen passphrase or a PIN code. Valimo Mobile ID solution facilitates secure online banking, mobile payments, governmental services, electronic and mobile commerce, and identity and access rights management for enterprise applications." READ MORE »

INSIDE Contactless has announced it is making its Open NFC™ commercial-grade NFC protocol stack available in a free and open source edition under the Apache™ License, Version 2.0. According to the company, "INSIDE’s Open NFC 3.4 is available now for WinCE 6.0 (compatible with Windows™ Mobile 7) and Linux 2.6 platforms, and an Android™ implementation will premier with the planned release of Open NFC 3.5 at the end of March." READ MORE »

Arcot has announced a new EMV authentication solution for cardholders to authenticate "Card Not Present" transactions using their mobile phones. According to the company, the new solution -- ArcotOTP -- lowers the cost of providing EMV authentication and increases the convenience for cardholders on the go. READ MORE »

Morgan Stanley has published a comprehensive look at the Mobile Internet, now available for online download in three components. They write:

We decided to create The Mobile Internet Report largely in PowerPoint and publish it on the web, expecting that bits and pieces of it will be cut / pasted / redistributed and debated / dismissed / lauded. Our goal is to get our thoughts and data into the conversation about what may be the biggest technology trend ever, one that may help make us all more informed in ways that are unique to the web circa 2009, and beyond."

Available for download here.

One of the use cases that NFC fans like to discuss is the smart poster - where a mobile handset can pickup information by simply being held in close proximity to an NFC "button". With not a lot of NFC-equipped handsets in the market yet, this isn't a use case that's very actively used. We wait for NFC.

Along comes an alternative technology. Today, Google announced it was beginning a local marketing effort called "Favorite Places on Google" that is based on 2D bar code technology which, as it turns out, can also be read by mobile handsets using their on-board cameras and an on-board application. Google calls this "a new effort to send window decals to over 100,000 local businesses in the U.S. that have been the most sought out and researched on Google.com and Google Maps."

Recently, Starbucks decided to use 2D bar code technology to bridge between mobile handsets and its POS systems for payment. Are we seeing a theme develop here?

What do you think? Add your comment here!

FirstPartner, a UK-based research firm, has published a 2009 mCommerce Market Map. According to FirstPartner, "the market map provides an overview of the mCommerce solution market, its value chain and the ecosystem." An evaluation version is available in PDF form - watermarked and with printing disabled. A fee version is also available without the watermark and with printing allowed.

41st Parameter says it is "forecasting increased mobile channel cybercrime and decreased effectiveness of traditional anti-fraud tactics, attributed to the rapid adoption of new mobile handsets and multiple operating systems. According to a November 2009 consumer study of U.S. mobile phone users, 18.9 percent of mobile consumers now use a smartphone, and an additional 49.2 percent plan to purchase an advanced mobile device within the next two years. Last week, Gartner reported smartphone sales in 3Q09 grew 12.8% year over year, reaching 41.1 million units." READ MORE »

Transparent Financial Services (TransFS) has announced the launch of its TransFS Card Terminal, "an iPhone app that provides businesses with credit card acceptance capabilities in virtually any location. TransFS Card Terminal™ is the first iPhone app of its kind to be free of cost and provide complete freedom of choice in credit card processor selection." TransFS has also made the source code of the application available as open source software. READ MORE »

Annually at the Web 2.0 Summit for the last several years, Morgan Stanley's Mary Meeker has given a presentation on her views about the market as well as the most interesting trends in technogy, Internet, etc. This year's presentation was given yesterday in San Francisco and is available online. If you're at all interested in what's happening with mobile, Meeker's slides are a must read!

Over on our sister blog PaymentsViews.com, Glenbrook's Erin McCune reports on a recent panel discussion on mobile payments in developing markets organized by Menekse Gencer of mPayConnect.

According to Erin, "The evening started with a primer on mobile financial services..." Click here to read on.

Earlier this week, Nokia announced its Nokia Money initiative. Here are a couple of interesting blog posts discussing its prospects:

• Nokia Money – An Uphill Battle by Mark Beccue, ABI Research.
• Finnish Line by Dave Birch, Consult Hyperion.

What do you think? Add your comments below!

Nokia has introduced Nokia Money - a new mobile service operated in conjunction with Obopay - calling it "a new mobile financial service offering consumers with mobile device access to basic financial services. For many consumers, this will be the first time they have had any access to such financial services."

According to the company, "Nokia Money has been designed to be as simple and convenient as making a voice call or sending an SMS. It will enable consumers to send money to another person just by using the person's mobile phone number, as well as to pay merchants for goods and services, pay their utility bills, or recharge their prepaid SIM cards (SIM top-up). The services can be accessed 24 hours a day from anywhere, meaning savings in travel costs and time. Nokia is building a wide network of Nokia Money agents, where consumers can deposit money in or withdraw cash from their accounts." READ MORE »