EBay first-quarter financial results beat analysts’ expectations in part because of the leadership role that the company has taken in mcommerce, which is helping to drive healthy gains across its businesses as consumers increasingly embrace mobile to shop and pay for purchases.

Convenience store chain Cumberland Farms has introduced a mobile payments application to make it easier to fill up on gas and, for a limited time, is offering users five cents off per gallon.

Starbucks is building on the significant success of its mobile payments app with several new capabilities, including making drive-thru payments available for the first time and extending its PayPal integration to Canada.

Square, which is known for its mobile payments solution for merchants, is making a bigger push into the consumer side of the transaction with a major revamp of its application that lets shoppers complete transactions via their smartphones.

PayPal has its eye on several digital wallet initiatives that are all aimed at storing information in the cloud and making it easier for merchants and consumers to buy products on a variety of different devices.

PayPal introduced new services for both consumers and merchants this week as it continues to focus on building a digital payments business with mobile as a key component.

PayPal is reportedly preparing to launch a smartphone attachment for processing credit card transactions similar to what Square and others are already offering.

Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon appear well positioned to take the lead in the mobile payments landscape except for the fact that these companies do not garner the same level of trust as others in the payments space, according to a new report from Javelin Strategy & Research.

EBay’s PayPal is ramping up its mobile strategy to help European merchants and consumers pay for items via a partnership with carriers.

Following a flurry of announcements around NFC-enabled mobile payments last year from Google and Isis, there has been very little news on the NFC front so far this year while cloud-based payments such as is offered by PayPal appear to be picking up some steam.