American Express and Sprint have teamed up to offer a mobile wallet application that was designed to change the way consumers interact and exchange money.

In Dave Talach’s blog post, he slams industry scare tactics around new mobile wallets. There is hype and it is understandable that NFC security nay-sayers unsettle Dave’s stomach.

With Amazon.com already a major player in mobile commerce via its mobile Web site and applications, the company is now rumored to be setting its sights on the increasingly competitive near field communication arena.

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.

Mobile payments will approach $1 trillion by 2015 in the United States if retailers receive lower payment-processing fees based on a more efficient system, according to The Luciano Group.

While it will not quite achieve mass-market adoption in 2011, this year the various ecosystem players will take major steps forward to realize the vision of a mobile wallet compatible with handsets of all types.

EastNets, a global provider of compliance and payment services, has launched a new mobile remittance platform hosted by Swift.

Carrier MTN Group and global payment services giant Western Union have partnered to introduce international mobile remittance services in 21 countries across Africa and the Middle East.

Consumers, especially those in the youth market, confirmed strong interest in using their mobile phones as a wallet, according to a recent poll by Alcatel-Lucent.

Infosys Technologies launched Finacle mobile banking 2.0 to let retail and corporate clients access banking services through SMS, GPRS, 3G and USSD-enabled handsets.