Our latest Global Prosumer research report polled 10,000 adults in 31 countries, and shows that Prosumers are leading the charge in mobile commerce. Who are Prosumers? They are members of a group of consumers we've identified who are important because they are proactive, informed influencers who are growing even more powerful thanks to their skillful embrace of emerging technologies and, especially, social media. Where Prosumers lead, mainstream consumers follow.

Target has launched two new marketing initiatives to drive downloads of its mobile application that also educate consumers about the benefits of mobile shopping. The big-box retailer is using both in-store signage and an online video to drive downloads of its mobile app. The goal behind Target using these initiatives is to connect with in-store shoppers who are engaged with the digital and in-store shopping experience.

Yahoo Japan is equipping its mobile applications with rewards to better connect with groups of engaged mobile users. The site has partnered with Kiip on a campaign to reward consumers with currencies that can be used to buy goods, services or donated. The campaign points to the growing trend where publishers create content that resembles a brand advertisement.

Movida, the 50/50 joint venture between Monitise and Visa in India, has signed an agreement with ICICI Bank, India's largest private sector bank, to introduce a mobile m-payments and m-commerce service. The deal follows on from a similar one last year where HDFC Bank, India's second-largest private bank, signed up to the same platform. The new service will enable ICICI Bank payment card holders to pay bills, recharge prepaid airtime and buy cinema tickets from their mobile phone, anywhere, anytime over the Movida technology platform.

MasterCard, Kalixa Group and DeviceFidelity are all working to launch the moneto mobile wallet in Britain to streamline mobile payments for consumers. Moneto enables near-field communications on iPhone 4 and 4s devices and lets users tap and pay for products at any merchant that accepts MasterCard. Consumers slip their iPhones into a case to transform their phone into an NFC-enabled device.

E-commerce security startup Payfont has released a beta version of its comprehensive patented system for securing personal and financial identity, available now to banks, e-commerce processors, credit card companies, and their consumers and merchants. "We face an ever-expanding pandemic of financial fraud in part created by our financial system," said Dr. Lanc. "Everyone is vulnerable because of two fundamental flaws in our system. First, because our identity verification systems are standardized all over the world, every identity thief knows exactly what information she must steal in order to impersonate someone (e.g. name, address, credit card number, expiration date, security code, …

Zillow Inc. has enhanced the iPad application for its home improvement business, Zillow Digs, by adding mobile color search and match. Users can now search through images by color family, view paint chips for the most prevalent colors in the image and find real-world paint information for the colors in the image. The Zillow Digs app is available for iPad devices in Apple's App Store.

Foursquare has actively tried to position itself as more than a check-in service of late as the mobile check-in craze continues to slow down. Foursquare has stiff competition in the location-based space, but by focusing on a location that consumers are already at, the company could see some positive reactions from brands with the new ad units. One offer gave consumers a promo code for 20 percent off that could be used in-store or online on July 4. The coupon was good until July 6.

Digital payment company PayMate India has announced that it's processing more than $500M in annual payment processing run rate. PayMate offers services for consumers to make payments and transfers, for businesses to accept payments and make B2B payments. The company claims that its B2B e-payment business has been working strong for them.

Figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index reveal that the M-Commerce Index continues to grow, up 136% year-on-year in June and 8% on May 2013. Conversion rates via mobile devices increased from 1.27% in June 2012 to 2.03% in June 2013, as spending via tablets increases driving conversation rates closer to that of desktops. In terms of sectors performing well, Clothing saw 29% year-on-year growth in June, as the warm weather encouraged shoppers to update their summer wardrobes. Sales for Home and Garden products were also up 35% year-on-year on a like-for-like basis in June, as consumers made improvements …