Mobile > Mobile CommerceEssentials

Phone manufacturers must build NFC (Near Field Communications) functionality into mobile handsets in order to speed adoption of mobile payment systems, the GSM Association said Tuesday.

Research house Gartner has forecast that there will be 33 million mobile payment users worldwide in 2008, with the Asia Pacific taking the lead.

Visa wants to become a part of your mobile phone, working with Nokia on realizing mobile payments and also announcing services for Google's Android platform.

Mobile phone retailer Crazy John's has inked a deal with Mint Wireless to sell its mobile commerce system to business customers.

Sybase subsidiary, Sybase 365, has created a new business unit, mCommerce, to focus exclusively on expanding its presence in the mobile banking and mobile payments industry.

Using a phone instead of a cheque or credit card has been postulated for years, but Australia is set to get its first large-scale mobile commerce platform when Telstra begins trialling the technology in 2008.