Jamba Juice is rolling out its new rewards program on a national level following a test from last summer. The smoothie chain's Jamba Insider Rewards program is now live in Jamba Juice's 851 stores. The program is powered through SMS and in-store touch screens that consumers use to type in their mobile phone numbers. "Over half our Web traffic comes from mobile users, and we have a significant number of Jamba Insiders who are only opted into text communication, so it makes sense to use SMS for communicating with our rewards members," said Robert Notte, chief technology officer of Jamba …

97 percent of online clothing shoppers shop from the comforts of their own home or work, with just one percent of the respondents using in-store Wi-fi on mobile devices for purchases, according to the new survey issued by Fits.me, the virtual fitting room solution. The survey, which asked 1,027 consumers about their attitudes towards online shopping found that even though an estimated 30 percent of clothing purchases are done from a mobile device, only 15 percent of surveyed consumers used a mobile device to make their last online purchase, with three out of 1,027 respondents using a mobile phone network …

BBVA has acquired Simple for $117 million as part of the financial institution's focus on investing more heavily in the mobile and digital spaces. BBVA claims to be Mexico's largest financial institution and also has a presence in Spain, South America and the United States. The deal will help BBVA expand its presence within the U.S. "BBVA has bought into our vision to reinvent banking with modern tools and great service and they are committed to giving us the resources we need to expand," said Adam Erlebacher, chief operating officer at Simple, Portland, OR.

As public transportation systems slowly shift over to mobile, Amtrak has been a leader in the space by offering mobile ticketing on almost all of its trains and buses and today boasts that the majority of its tickets are redeemed electronically. Transportation has an obvious use case for mobile, with users able to easily pull out their phone and scan a ticket instead of having to waste time at stations purchasing a ticket and instead of having to remember a piece of paper. However, there are challenges inherent in extending mobile services to such far-reaching organizations where schedules can change …

MasterCard launched MasterPass, an in-app payments service designed to eliminate the need to store credit card credentials on several mobile applications, at the Mobile World Congress trade show. MasterPass in-app payments extend the capabilities of MasterCard's browser-based MasterPass digital service into the mobile app environment, and provide consumers with one secure direct relationship with their bank. Forbes Digital Commerce, Fat Zebra, NoQ, Starbucks Australia and Shaw Theatres Singapore are among the first app providers that will power their in-app purchasing capabilities with MasterPass.

eBay and PayPal have embraced mobile commerce and are just as enthusiastic about wearable devices, as evidenced by their support of smartwatches. The two companies launched apps for Samsung's first generation Galaxy Gear smartwatch last fall, and eBay and PayPal are now featured apps on the second generation Gear 2 smartwatches that Samsung announced over the weekend at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Spain (it dropped the word "Galaxy" from the new models). PayPal's Vice President of Global Product Hill Ferguson took to the company blog to say PayPal would be the first payment provider on the Gear 2, …

Accenture is extending its digital payments services with features integrating "big data" analytics capabilities and recommendation tools to allow its clients to build personalized, mobile e-commerce applications. The enhanced Accenture Mobile Wallet platform now includes the Accenture Recommendation Engine, developed by Accenture Interactive and delivered via the cloud or on-premises through Accenture Analytics, which offers personalized recommendations to customers in real time. The technology services and management company made the announcement Monday at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where mobile commerce is a hot topic. Also Monday, for example, MasterCard announced it is enhancing its MasterPass mobile online payments service …

German automaker Porsche is equipping dealers with an augmented reality iPad application for the Porsche Panamera that immerses interested consumers in the vehicle's capabilities. When hovering the iPad over a vehicle, the app synchronizes with markers that lead to stills, text, video and animation to give consumers a full sense of what the vehicle offers. The app coincided with the release of the Panamera in the Middle East, aiming to increase exposure in eight countries. "The Porsche Panemera app integrates with a sophisticated brand experience environment within the dealerships," said Steve Blyth, founder and managing director of Engage Productions, London.

Singapore's TWG Tea has plans to expand the sales of its luxury tea products and in order to do so has begun focusing on mobile commerce. The company boasts of more than 800 types of tea and believes that consumers can easily become overwhelmed by the options they have. In order to make it easier for consumers to find what they want, the company has begun developing a mobile application that will be able to support mobile purchases. According to TWG Tea, approximately 5% of the company's luxury sales are driven by mobile devices. The company's application is expected to …

Twelve months ago mobile-commerce or m-commerce was a minor revenue-generating side of the business but today it makes up nearly 30 percent of the revenues enjoyed by e-commerce companies and one that's seeing more and more investment pouring in. Smartphones have not just changed the rules of the e-commerce game - they've turned it on its head. In 2013, m-commerce - that's business from a customer on a mobile-phone platform accounted for 10 percent of the revenues earned by fashion e-commerce sites Myntra and 5 percent for online deal place Snapdeal. A year later, this platform has doubled for myntra …