Elastic Path has raised an $8 million debt round to fuel the development of its "commerce everywhere," API - a hypermedia platform that abstracts backend complexity for the front-end developer and business person. Wellington Financial out of Toronto provided the financing. Elastic Path has traditionally served as an e-commerce company. But over the past few years, it has focused on building an API platform that extends the capability for businesses to take commerce beyond a website.

Banks and other financial service companies are growing more comfortable with the idea of mobile commerce as consumers become more inclined to use their mobile devices to pay for products. In the U.S., banks are beginning to respond to the growing demand for mobile commerce services. US Bank is one of the latest organizations to answer this demand, and the company has set its sights on the iOS platform for its Go Mobile Payment Service platform.

Japanese online and mobile commerce and entertainment provider DeNA is partnerhing with Chinese electronics retailer Suning to promote mobile games. Through its Chinese subsidiary, the company will release games from its Mobage social gaming platform on Suning.com, which is currently in closed beta.

Mobile payment and messaging services provider Callfactory, a subsidiary of KPN, has partnered with customer engagement specialist Momac in a move to enhance the customer experience via its one-click billing product Safeklick. The partnership will look to optimise the flow of payment, and further enhance Wi-Fi payment. It will also introduce the new Safeklick mobile portal, whoch will offer customers greater control and visibility with regards to their payment and subscriptions.

Welcome to the latest edition of PYMNTS.com's VC Voices: a weekly column where we bring you commentary from the best of the best around the world of payments investment. Want to know what the biggest backers of our industry's innovators and disrupters think? We give our VCs 500 words of unedited space to do with as they please, so you've come to the right place. This week, PYMNTS.com hears from Dan Rosen, general partner at Commerce Ventures, about his experiences with mobile payments abroad.

Argos saw sales via its mobile channel grow by a whopping 114 percent in its first quarter in the latest example of the growing confidence from consumers to shop online and on-the-go. The mobile increase came in the period from March to June, and indicated growth compared to the same period in 2102. Overall, internet sales were responsible for 42 percent of Argos's sales, up slightly from 41 percent in the same period last year, but it is the growth of mobile sales that is particularly eye-catching.

NFC technology has been receiving more attention recently due to the rise in popularity of mobile commerce. NFC is not a new technology, but it is still relatively young when compared to other types of mobile technology. Before NFC was being used in mobile commerce, it was being used in credit cards as a way to facilitate contactless payments. Now, NFC is beginning to attract the attention of malicious groups that are eager to steal a consumer's financial information.

Gemalto, a leading digital security firm, has announced that it will be providing services to SoftBank Mobile in Japan. SoftBank has a keen interest in mobile commerce and engaging consumers that are becoming more heavily reliant on smartphones and tablets. To this end, SoftBank Mobile aims to provide these consumers with new mobile commerce services. The issue of security, however, has been a major concern for SoftBank, which is why it has turned to Gemalto.

Mobile commerce expert, Sammy Tuffaha, has called for marketing campaigns to raise public awareness of e-payment services in the MENA region, that promote the culture of electronic payment to national institutions and private sector companies. Tuffaha made the comments during his participation in the Cards and Payments Middle East Conference 2013, which was recently held in Dubai World Trade Centre to acquaint attendees with taking the mobile commerce industry in the MENA region to the next level.

Business models focused around in-application payments will contribute to significant growth for mobile and portable gaming, according to a new report from App Annie and IDC. App Annie and IDC E3's "The Future of Mobile & Portable Gaming" special edition report looks at which devices and business models will fuel the gaming industry in the next 18 months. The report also dives into particular areas that will see the strongest growth.