Verizon Communications’ $400,000 investment in mobile loyalty specialist CardStar proves that value-added services are key to driving adoption of mobile payments.

The first annual Adobe Scene7 Mobile Commerce Survey details leading businesses’ strategies for leveraging the emerging mobile channel over the coming year.

Retail giant Macy’s is partnering with shopkick to enhance its overall mobile strategy, with the goal of inspiring consumer loyalty and driving foot traffic in-store.

ShopNBC and drugstore.com are among the merchants that have partnered with LinkShare’s affiliate network to track mobile commerce transactions.

The Dealmap is providing a resource for consumers to find and share local deals via a new application available in Apple’s App Store.

Arkansas.gov’s secure mobile payment service has quickly become one of the state’s most popular smartphone-enabled features.

CheckPoints, a mobile startup in the location-based retail category, closed a $1 million Series A financing round from the cofounders, brothers Mark and Todd DiPaola.

Ibersol, which operates QSR franchises such as Pizza Hut, KFC, Burger King and Pans & Co., has launched its first mobile loyalty initiatives to enhance its CRM strategy.

Sephora launched the SephoraMobile shopping experience, adding a mobile commerce element to let its customers research and buy beauty products while they are on the go.

Payfone Inc. has closed an $11 million round of Series B financing, which is one of the biggest investments in the mobile payments space to date.