Kenya's mobile banking innovation may prove difficult to export. The African country has led the way with an SMS-based payment service called M-Pesa, which launched in eastern India last month. The government's push to give all Indians the right to banking access bodes well. But financial regulations and fierce competition may mean M-Pesa in India will face higher hurdles than its Kenyan role model.

A Pakistani bank plans to launch branchless banking soon through a partnership with mobile-commerce provider Monet and local mobile operator Warid Telecom. Under the agreement, Meezan Bank will join Bank Alflah and Warid Telecom as founding member to create the Mobile Money Network

Mobile payments giant Square is reportedly working to create a "recommendation engine" for users. Based on the chatter we've been hearing so far, the innovation would be capable of suggesting to users places they may be interested in visiting based exclusively on their mobile transaction history.

When asked about current experiences with QR code technology, only 12 percent of the respondents to a survey of U.S. households said they use the 2D bar codes across all product categories. Additionally, the number of consumers who plan to use QR codes in the future remains at 12 percent.

1800Flowers' BloomNet has rolled out an iPad application that helps florists and consumers check out floral arrangements and shop from their handsets. The BloomNet Essentials iPad app is available for free download from Apple's App Store. To use the app, florists must be a BloomNet member with a log-in account.

Korean mobile messaging service Kakao is updating the Plus Friend advertising platform built into its Kakao Talk app with dedicated homepages and custom design tools aimed at brands and celebrities. The upgraded version, called Plus Friend Home, is only available in Korea at the moment but points to a larger shift towards e-commerce and business-targeted user engagement features.

Of the merchants in the 2013 edition of the Top 500 Guide, 322 operate a mobile commerce site or app, compared with 135 in last year's rankings. For several of the Top 500 retailers sales through smartphones and tablets represent a substantial part of their business.

Mobile security is quickly becoming one of the most prominent concerns among those with smartphones and tablets, especially for those that participate in mobile commerce. As mobile commerce continues to grow, so too do the threats that are designed to steal and exploit a consumer's financial information. A new malicious mobile application was recently discovered that aims to do just that.

The global volume of smartphones enabled with near field communications is forecasted to more than double this year, according to Strategy Analytics. The research firm noted in a blog that most new LTE 4G handsets will have NFC, which enables mobile payments. Key handset manufacturers offering NFC smartphones include Samsung, BlackBerry, Google, Microsoft and Nokia.

Wendy's is running a mobile commerce pilot that not only lets consumers use their mobile devices to pay for meals, but also bolsters downloads of the company's application. Mobile payments are being tested in three markets - Portland, Albuquerque and Austin. The My Wendy's app is available for iPhone and Android devices.