U.S. Bank is piloting a new augmented reality app that enables users to easily find and access information about the closest U.S. Bank branch or ATM.

While offering a mobile incentive helps drive traffic in-store and build relationships between companies and consumers, are retailers targeting customers in the right way to increase their revenue?

SAN FRANCISCO – While location-based marketing does not define all the opportunities in mobile, the ability to influence consumer behavior at or near the point of sale are among the most compelling, according to panelists at an ad:tech session.

With Google, MasterCard and Citi reportedly teaming up to go head-to-head with the U.S. carriers’ Isis joint venture with Discover Card and Barclaycard, a war in the near field communication space is on the horizon.

Valpak has teamed up with junaio to use the company’s augmented reality application to push geo-targeted coupons from nearby businesses.

As an official launch partner of Foursquare version 3.0, sporting goods retailer Sports Authority is offering consumers Flash Special deals and other discount offers via the location-based mobile social network.

At SXSW this week, JiWire and TabbedOut, which lets bar and restaurant customers pay their tabs via their smartphones, are hosting a location-based campaign and bar crawl March 12 and 13 at watering holes around Austin.

Location-based ads are driving mobile shopping, with 17 percent of the on-the-go audience making purchases via mobile, according to a JiWire report.

Loc-Aid, a location-as-a-service company that connects mobile enterprises to wireless subscribers, has secured $13 million in a Series C financing round to support the company’s growth.

British retail giants Marks & Spencer and House of Fraser are distributing location-based mobile coupons to opted-in O2 subscribers.