You have to look hard to find good news about Citigroup (NYSE: C) these days. but despite all the bad headlines, the company continues to find new ways to innovate.

Take its joint venture Mobile Money Ventures LLC (MMV), which is an alliance with SK Telecom. Basically, this is a new company that is building new financial mobile applications.

On Monday, MV debuted a new offering – and it leverages Google (NASDAQ: GOOG)'s Android. In fact, I saw a demo of it at the 2nd Mobile Commerce Summit.

All in all, it's pretty cool. The application helps with tracking and payments (there are also person-to-person transfers). Plus, you can even get mobile coupons and rewards – and send them to friends.

More importantly, the interface is intuitive and quick. It has a slick iPhone feel.

While the mobile banking market is still in the nascent stages, it looks like the growth rate will be particularly strong (just as was the case with ATMs during the 1980s). No doubt, Citigroup is making the commitments to be a top player in this important category -- which is likely to lead to more customer engagement and hopefully more profits for the long haul.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

Today is eBay's Analyst Day, and we're watching the webcast to glean any important bits of info for you. Stay tuned for more throughout the afternoon.

"I'll pay you back next time." How many times have you heard that? PayPal wants to change all that by allowing person-to-person payments via your mobile phone. If you are a PayPal executive and you're buying a case of wine in Napa Valley, no need to tote a bunch of cash -- just let your friend pick up the case on his credit card and you can PayPal him back a couple of bills in the parking lot (before putting the half-case in the trunk of your Mercedes sedan, of course). I'm psyched, because next time I go to the Goodwill outlet, and my friend Larissa and I go diving for funky thrift items to re-sell on eBay, we can combine our loot (it's less per pound the more you buy) and I can pay her back instantaneously. Or how 'bout this: garage sales! It's brilliant. If I could use my PayPal account at garage sales, I'd buy so much more.

This is working now, and a new feature that was just released: text-to-pay. There's a demonstration of how it works; the presenter buys a Walk The Line DVD from his phone with his PayPal account (a UPS deliveryman brings it immediately -- yeah, you're cute, eBay). It's great, but you could already buy that DVD with your cell phone (yeah, you had to call the 800 number and tell them your credit card number, etc. - but still. Not changing the world). You can't use your credit card at a garage sale. Your buddy doesn't have a credit card acceptor when you split the check. That's where PayPal makes a difference, in my opinion.

[Disclaimer: I own a few shares of eBay, and I've been known to sell things on eBay, purchased at the Goodwill outlet, for a profit.]