Nokia says it is “exploring options for a structured exit from the Mobile Financial Services business”, which includes the Nokia Money service in India.

Nokia Money was announced in 2009 following Nokia’s investment in mobile phone payment service Obopay.

Vodafone and Visa have announced a worldwide partnership that’ll enable consumers to pay for goods and services using their mobile phones.

It’ll be a Vodafone branded NFC service based on a Visa payWave prepaid account and will launch first in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey and the UK during the coming financial year.

The Payments Council, which is responsible for ensuring that payment services work in the UK, says it’s building a central database that will allow customers to link their mobile phone number to any UK bank account they use.

This database, which is being constructed by payments provider VocaLink, is due to be made available to UK banks and building societies before the end of this year. Banks could then use it to build their own mobile app or mobile web-based service for customers.

Barclays introduces person-to-person mobile money transfers to the UK, Ofcom gets the go-ahead to cut wholesale interconnection charges, a handful of new phones are announced ahead of Mobile World Congress... plus the rest of the week's big news.

Telefónica Digital has announced a global partnership with mobile commerce business Sybase 365.

It means Sybase 365 will help develop Telefónica’s mobile wallet, with the first Telefonica wallet services expected to launch commercially in Latin America and Europe during the first half of this year.