I usually hate to jump on the bandwagon about a particular news item. But since the WSJ, Washington Post and Payments News have decided to cover Obopay's just announced deal with Verizon, I figured I could mention it.

Certainly this is a major achievement for the startup, which had previously signed deals with smaller mobile providers like Helio and Amp'd. It will be interesting to watch the competitive responses from both competing mobile payment players and mobile providers.

If you're interested in learning more about Obopay's model, this white paper is a great place to start. If you want to get a broader perspective on the mobile payments space, I recommend OBR's detailed recent report on Mobile Money and Payments.

Our parent publication, Online Banking Report, has just released its latest in-depth report: Mobile Money & Payments 2.0: Why credit & debit card issuers should embrace mobile delivery now

• Link to the full report here
• Link to the abstract here

The report builds on last month's Mobile Banking Report (report here), this time looking at the rollout of mobile payments in North America. The report recommends tactical and strategic options for financial institutions both in the short-term and into the next decade. In addition, several innovators are highlighted including Obopay, PayPal Mobile, and NTT DoCoMo.