Mobile Payments - May 19

Visa Unveils Next Generation Electronic Payments and Services
"Visa Inc., a global leader in electronic payments, today announced the next generation of payments solutions that will replicate the ease, reliability and security of Visa point-of-sale payments within traditional and digital eCommerce, mobile commerce and burgeoning social networking commerce environments. New offerings are expected to include a secure cross-channel digital wallet and a range of customized mobile payments services that address the specific requirements of geographic markets around the world."

Mocapay Launches Branded Payment Card Integration in Mobile Wallet
"Mocapay today announced the integration of association branded cards into its mobile wallet through the VeriFone PAYMEDIA solution. Through this partnership, Mocapay merchants will benefit from an additional payment type, the ability to learn critical demographic information about their target consumer, and the ability to engage one-on-one with their customers through Mocapay’s integrated mobile marketing database."

Intuit eyes NFC for mobile payment system
"Intuit wants to give its customers a glimpse of the future of mobile payments through an adaptation of its GoPayment service that eliminates the need for credit cards. Tapping into the growing field of NFC (near-field communication) technology, Intuit's reimagined GoPayment service would let consumers wirelessly pay for items on the go through just a touch of an NFC-enabled cell phone."

3 Reasons Mobile Payments Might Not Be Ready
"Mobile payment technology is generating about as much buzz as a typical Apple product release lately. NFC and mobile payment info is such a sexy topic, that just about every other day, we’ll see an article telling us to throw our wallets away forever. But wait, you may want to hold on to your bi-folds because it may be another few years before we adopt mobile payments on a mass level."

Mobile Banking Security

Mocapay Cites Security as Mobile Payment System Edge
"Mocapay Inc. says the key to making its mobile payment software appealing to users is security. The Denver mobile loyalty and gift card technology vendor took the wraps off a system last week that consumers can use to make purchases with their phones. Enrolled users can get one-time codes on their phones that can be used to charge payments to prepaid accounts.

'Transactions move through Mocapay's system as dynamic cryptograms, or tokens, so no sensitive data is exposed or stored on the handset or at the point of sale,' said Kevin Grieve, Mocapay's chief executive."

The State of Mobile Security in Banking & Financial Transactions
"Many financial institutions today are incorporating mobile banking and financial services as consumers increasingly turn to their mobile devices to conduct everyday tasks. Despite the convenience of doing business this way, the majority of consumers are reluctant to try mobile banking because of perceived security threats. This paper will address these largely unfounded consumer fears, provide an overview of security best practices and highlight the most popular strategies for deploying mobile banking."

VeriSign(R) Identity Protection (VIP) Access for Mobile Widens Support for Strong Authentication
" VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure for the networked world, continues to gain traction with customers in driving the adoption of mobile phone-based security for online access. The VeriSign® Identity Protection (VIP) Authentication Service is the leading cloud-based authentication service enabling secure online access for end users utilizing their mobile phones. Today, VeriSign supports both standalone mobile security applications as well as a Mobile Software Development Kit (SDK) for building security into mobile applications."

Mobile Banking Updates - Sept 20

Microsoft and M-Com Deliver Mobile Payments Solution Globally
"Microsoft Corp. and M-Com today announced a solution offering that provides banks and payment processors with industry-leading mobile payments functionality -- creating more opportunities for banks to offer mobile payments services to their customers and maximize their revenue opportunities. This solution clearly demonstrates that consumer choice and deployment flexibility for banks are key to the success of global mobile payments solutions for the financial services industry. The announcement was made at Sibos 2009, the industry's premier global financial services forum."

OnPoint Community Credit Union chooses NFC micro-SD supplier Tyfone for mobile banking launch
"OnPoint Community Credit Union, Oregon's largest credit union with more than US$2.8bn in assets and 200,000 members, has selected Tyfone's u4ia platform as the infrastructure behind its mobile banking strategy. To begin with, the credit union will launch a range of 'standard' mobile banking services. MicroSD-based NFC contactless mobile payment capabilities are set to follow."

The ABCs (and Fs) of Mobile Banking
"I’m a pretty tech-savvy individual, but I have to admit I’ve only recently gotten into mobile banking. I thought I was arriving late to the party—I mean, I feel like I’ve been seeing commercials about online bill paying and text message updates forever. But a recent study suggests that, depending on your bank, the aforementioned party could be anything from a roof-raising shindig to a gaggle of freshmen playing board games, or it could be no party at all. ABI Research Inc. evaluated the mobile banking services of 29 of the nation’s biggest chains, in addition to some smaller banks, ranking the overall user friendliness with letter grades A through F."

US mobile banking giant buys Macalla Software
"US mobile roaming company Roamware, that has its eyes on the US$5bn global mobile banking market, has acquired Dublin software company Macalla for an undisclosed sum. Macalla’s m-commerce and mobile banking solutions are successfully deployed by banks and operators around the world; these solutions include adding prepaid minutes, credit transfers, international remittance, person-to-person transactions and bill payment."

TopUp LIME Mobile Phones at Western Union Locations in the United States
"LIME, the Caribbean's leading full service telecomms provider, and MoreMagic Solutions, a leading mobile payment solutions provider, announced today that friends and family of LIME customers, living outside the Caribbean, are now able to purchase TopUps and transfer the airtime to LIME phones, at Western Union Agent locations throughout the United States. C&W is
connected to the MoreMagic Solutions IRR Global Hub, in order to perform international TopUp transactions and settlements. From 46,000 retail locations, or the web at www.etopuponline.com, a customer can purchase a gift of prepaid airtime for a LIME mobile phone. Because MoreMagic Solutions offers daily foreign exchange (FX) without markup, LIME customers receive maximum airtime value at Western Union locations in the United States."

Mocapay closes funding round with $3.0 million
"Mocapay, that provides the only mobile commerce platform supporting integrated mobile payments, marketing and distribution at point-of-sale, announced Wednesday about securing of $3.0 million in funding from Spartan Mobile, Lacuna and other investors. Mocapay’s CEO Kevin Grieve said, that the company is delighted to have Spartan Mobile as the lead investor in this round and believes it will support actively Company’s guide."