In-taxi wireless payments will soon be possible in taxis, payment processor and taxi fleet operator Cabcharge said yesterday. The company did not want to elaborate on technical details but said the intention was to "enable payments using other methods, initially via PayPal". The system, which requires the driver to scan a bar code in the PayPal app, is already used by taxis in Canberra. MasterCard has agreed to acquire the mobile wallet software and services provider C-SAM, a firm in which it has held a minority interest since the two companies launched a "global strategic partnership" in April 2013. The C-SAM platform supports "customer-specific offers, loyalty incentives, banking, bill-pay options and non-financial secure transactions," according to MasterCard. It expects the deal will speed up the development and deployment of mobile wallets and payment solutions, including the rollout of MasterPass. ASX is seeking feedback on the benefits, industry readiness, timetable for implementation and other issues for transition from the current settlement period of trade day-plus-three-days to a T+2 settlement cycle for cash market trades in Australia. ASX estimated that had T+2 been in place in Australia from June 2012 to December 2013, daily cash market margins for the total market would have been 20 to 30 per cent lower, equating to an estimated $30 to $40 million savings in total margin payments. The website of troubled Tokyo based bitcoin-exchange platform Mt. Gox was unavailable late from late yesterday "and appears to have been deleted", according to the Wall Street Journal. The bitcoin exchange, which had frozen withdrawals since the beginning of this month, allegedly lost almost US$350 million to a year-long cyber-theft and was said to be technically insolvent. Other industry players moved to contain damage, calling this a "tragic violation of the trust of users of Mt.Gox", adding that "one company's actions does not reflect the resilience or value of bitcoin and the digital currency industry". New Zealand's five major banks (which are the NZ subsidiaries of Australia's Big Four, plus NZ's Kiwibank) continued to show good growth in the second half of the 2013 financial year. Profit before tax increased by 10 per cent, or NZ$244 million, to $2.7bn in 2013, on the back of increased net interest income and other operating income, flat operating expenses and a decline in bad debt expenses, according to PwC New Zealand's latest industry report. The growth in banking profits "mirrored a confident New Zealand economy", as evidenced by a 13 per cent decline in bad debt expenses to $178 million, well below the $1.3 billion peak experienced in 2009. The second half of the 2013 financial year also saw both lending and deposits increase.