Vodafone UK staff members are currently pilot testing the mobile network operator's Vodafone SmartPass mobile payments service at the carrier's campus in Newbury, Berkshire. The trial is testing behaviours and building advocacy within the employee base.

Driven in large part by mobile users, China's e-commerce market racked up a whopping $190 billion worth of transactions in 2012, according to a report by the China Internet Network Information Center, an increase of 66.5 percent over 2011s total. .

The growth of smartphones and the tablet market in India is pushing e-commerce players to offer mobile versions of their e-commerce sites. These versions enable the customer to buy the product from his/her mobile phone or tablet while they are on the move. More and more e-commerce players are joining the bandwagon by launching applications and mobile versions of their websites.

The mass adoption of smartphones and tablets has set the stage for a move away from fixed-point, card-based transactions and toward those completed on mobile. The old dream of the "digital wallet" is coming true in a very particular mobile-led fashion. With more than $3.95 trillion of non-cash transaction volume recorded in the U.S. alone in 2011, the stakes are high in this space. At BI Intelligence we argued seven months ago that attachable credit card readers and their companion mobile apps would become the most widely adopted mobile payment technologies. The main rival technology is called Near-field Communications (NFC).

Merchant Customer Exchange--the proposed nationwide mobile commerce network spearheaded by retailers including Walmart, Target, Best Buy and 7-Eleven--has selected a digital security firm to build its mobile wallet.

It's fast. It's hassle free. But is it safe? It's this apprehension that is keeping cellphone users in Bengal away from 'm-commerce' - using a mobile phone to buy, sell products or transfer money. With m-commerce, we won't have to rush to the ATM every time we need money. Vodafone and ICICI Bank teamed up for this.

Online retail sales in the United Kingdom increased in March compared with the same month a year earlier, according to the latest report from business and technology consultancy Capgemini and U.K. e-retail association Interactive Media in Retail Group. The two groups did say, however, that sales stemming from smartphones and tablets increased 243% year over year in March.

Online hotel booking company Booking.com shows just how fast consumer use of mobile devices is growing worldwide. The total value of hotel bookings made via Booking.com's mobile commerce site and apps in 2012 surpassed $3 billion, triple the $1 billion in 2011, the web travel company reports. These bookings were made through the travel firm's m-commerce site for smartphones, iPhone app, Android smartphone app, iPad app and through its e-commerce site accessed on tablets.

Users of several newspaper mobile applications now can easily access sales information from nearby retailers such as Macy's and Walgreens via the new Find & Save program. A joint venture of leading newspapers such as the San Francisco Chronicle and the Washington Post brings together sales data from the top 42 circular advertisers, including CVS and Target.

Much has been made in recent months about the phenomenon of ecommerce conducted over multiple devices. People want ecommerce on mobiles and all the conveniences that retailers can provide. Such convenience generally comes down to mobile applications, or apps, used by consumers on their tablets and smartphones.