Credit Card Companies Work Together on M-Commerce Standards

NEW YORK - Credit card giants Visa, MasterCard and American Express said earlier this week they are joining forces to form the Mobile Payment Forum. The forum is designed to create standards for mobile e-commerce to authenticate cardholder identities and provide a secure way for consumers to make purchases from their mobile phones, personal digital assistants and other devices.

Members of the nonprofit venture will include financial firms, telecommunications operators, wireless device makers and software developers