British Airways has rolled out beacon technology in Heathrow Terminal 5 and Terminal 3 following a “small scale” trial at its head office – making it the first UK airline to embrace the technology. Last month, head of BA.com and mobile Kevin McQuillan revealed to The Drum that BA had identified an “incredible opportunity” with beaconsas it looks to harness the relationship with consumers from the purchase point through to taking the flight.

A new partnership with a Boston-based startup will allow people to pay their city of Boston parking tickets using their smartphones. The city announced the partnership on Tuesday with TicketZen, a company created by Boston-based software design firm Terrible Labs. The service is the result of a request for proposals issued by the city, which invited organizations to propose a mobile parking ticket payment solution for city-issued parking tickets.

Microsoft may be getting serious about mobile payments. The company has recently hired Iain Kennedy, who was the payments product manager for Amazon for the past six years. Kennedy has extensive experience in the payments field and his work has helped Amazon find more success in the mobile space. Kennedy is now the product manager of Microsoft’s commerce platform, which may signal that the company is planning to take a stronger approach on the matter of mobile commerce.

Mobile optimization is beginning to become a top priority for the world’s retailers. Internet Retailer has released a new report concerning the matter, showing that a growing number of retailers are beginning to take optimization more seriously. As consumers become more invested in mobile commerce, retailers are beginning to feel the need to cater to their interests. This involves designing websites and e-commerce services that are easily accessible to smartphones and tablets. According to the report from Internet Retailer, the number of retailers developing responsive mobile websites grew 164% this year.

American Eagle Outfitters is looking to take advantage of the expected surge in mcommerce sales during the holiday shopping season with enhanced product merchandising in its mobile application. The teen retailer recently updated its app to include pinch and zoom on product pictures as well as the ability to read product descriptions on every product page by swiping up.

Monitise, a British mobile payments firm, received bad news from Visa, one of its primary shareholders, this week. Visa is evaluating its stake in Monitise and may sell off its shares in the coming months. This has sent Monitise’s stock plummeting, but the firm has partnerships with other prominent companies that could mitigate the loss of Visa as a stakeholder. Monitise has managed to garner support from consumers in the United Kingdom that are interested in mobile commerce. Visa is currently “considering its options” regarding its stake in Monitise. In 2009, Visa took a 14.4% stake in the firm.

Kingdom are quite diverse. According to research from EPiServer, those participating in mobile shopping and payments come from a varied group with equally varied walks of life. When it comes to new forms of commerce and technology, the common consensus is that adoption and participation is highest among younger consumers. That is not always the case, however, especially in the United Kingdom. According to the research from EPiServer, the majority of those that own a smartphone and tablet device fall between the ages of 25 and 34. 

According to the China Internet Network Information Center, the number of people accessing the internet through their mobile phones rose to 464 Mn by June 2013 with 10% increase from 6 months earlier. This provides an area of vast potential for Payment systems such as Alipay and Tenpay. With a larger subscriber base of 800 Mn, and greater revenue Alipay is leading the way in the Chinese payments industry. Following is a chart that depicts the market share as per iResearch data.

Brands including Amazon, Lowe’s and E*Trade have embraced iOS 8′s Touch ID in recognition of mcommerce’s unrealized potential as mobile app usage continues to grow. Touch ID caters to users’ desire to have secure yet easy access to financial information on apps. With credit card information, investments and trades available at the press of a fingertip, many brands and retailers are hoping it will drive mcommerce sales upwards.

When an online commerce company set up by a former English teacher in China makes a stunning debut on the US bourses, questions are bound to arise as to whether an Indian player can replicate the success. While success in entrepreneurship is largely due to individual brilliance — as is evident from Alibaba's and its founder Jack Ma's spectacular IPO last week — other factors, including investment climate and government regulations, do play a key part.