Bank Innovation is reporting that Apple has inked deals to lower its card transaction fees with many of the nation’s top financial institutions, including American Express, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Capital One, and Bank of America.

If the rumor mill is right, Apple should have no problem leveraging these deals into a prime placement at the center of the mobile payments world.

So why are the big banks playing ball and offering Apple such a sweet deal?

“Banks offered the discounted fee for two reasons: for the Apple payments platform to accept all of the cards from the issuers, and for Apple to assume some of the liability by including two secure elements that will authenticate transactions — location data via the NFC chip, and biometric security,” the report explains. “This is essentially a wash for the financial services industry: they lowered fees for Apple for the privilege of being included in Apple’s payments initiative, but managed to put some of the transaction risk to Apple.”

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According to a new Citigroup report, shares of the internet search giant have passed Apple to become the most-owned stock by the 50 largest actively managed mutual funds in the U.S.

Information compiled by Bloomberg shows that Google shares are now trading at roughly 25 times the company’s profits, compared to less than 10 times earnings for Apple.

This is the widest gap observed between Google and Apple since June 2005.

Among hedge funds, Google was also the top holding, according to the report, which examined investments at the end of the fourth quarter for the largest funds by asset size.

As of Friday afternoon, shares of AAPL were trading just south $432, while GOOG is trading just north of $830.

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MMV – which formed in 2008 as a joint venture that combined the strengths of Citigroup and SK Telecom Americas – has quickly become a leading global provider of next-generation mobile financial solutions.

Intuit says the transaction bolsters the company’s financial services’ position as “a leading online and mobile technology provider to financial institutions.”

In a press release this morning announcing the purchase of MMV, Intuit says it will be able to directly manage customer support and will have full control over the design of its mobile Web banking solutions. According to Intuit, customers of more than 320 US banks and credit unions “actively use” Intuit’s existing mobile Web technology, which was provided by MMV.

“People and businesses are increasingly using mobile devices to get and manage financial information while on the go – they’re always connected,” says CeCe Morken, president of Intuit Financial Services and a vice president at Intuit. “This acquisition will help us more rapidly bring new solutions to market so financial institutions can deliver important insights and services when and where their customers need them.”

Intuit did not disclose financial details of the transaction but noted in its press release that the deal was signed and closed today.

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On Thursday, Google introduced the long awaited “Google Wallet” program.

The company revealed that its aim is to fuse the retail and mobile experience together in an effort to create “tomorrow’s best shopping experience.”

According to today’s formal announcement, the services created by Google will bring together coupons and discounts and payments simultaneously when people make purchases via their mobile device.

“Google Wallet combines offers and payments at the point of sale, makes it easy for partners and third-parties to create better consumer experiences, and drives brand new shopping experiences for everyone…Your phone will be your wallet. Just tap, pay and save,” said Google’s VP of Commerce Stephanie Tilenius.

The service will roll out this summer from Google and its partners – Mastercard, Citigroup, First Data and Sprint. Initially, however, the service will only be available in New York and San Francisco. A national launch will soon follow.

By 2014, 50% of smartphones will be NFC-enabled. That’s 150 million devices. For business, Google Wallet is an opportunity to offer faster and easier shopping with rewards points.

Initial participating retailers include Macy’s, Subway, American Eagle, Noahs Bagels, Container Store, Walgreens, and others. Google also noted that some 300,000 merchants are presently equipped to accommodate the Google Wallet program.

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AmEx is expected to announce on Wednesday that it is the lead investor in a $19 million financing for Payfone Inc., a New York start-up that also is backed by the venture-capital arms of Verizon Communications Inc. and Research In Motion Ltd.

“The phone number is the most ubiquitous identification in the world. Using that as a way to check out means it can be used on a global basis,” Rodger Desai, co-founder and chief executive of Payfone, tells the Wall Street Journal.

The deal would reflect the latest effort by the credit card giant to gear up for the anticipated forthcoming dawn of the mobile payments era.

It is widely believed that Payfone will use an AmEx-based payment platform to provide customers with a digital account that is tethered to a credit card or a prepaid card. Customers then have the ability to link this payment account to a dedicated mobile phone number, which will thereby enable mobile payments in a secure manner.

American Express, however, isn’t alone in the race for credit card juggernauts to embrace the mobile payments revolution. MasterCard, for example, is partnering with Google Inc. and Citigroup Inc. to embed technology in Android mobile devices to make mobile payments possible.

Similarly, Discover is among those teaming with Isis to help enable customers to pay for goods with their smartphones.

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