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Just past the security gate for the world’s largest cell phone trade show in Barcelona, executives of big mobile carriers can’t avoid walking past a booth they would probably rather not see: It’s for “Pinger,” a small California company that offers free texting in the United States and Germany and has global expansion plans.

Pinger _ along with an explosion of smartphone messaging services like iMessage, BlackBerry Messenger, WhatsApp, Viber Media, Facebook Messenger and KakaoTalk _ have managed in just a few years to slash away at the important revenue that cell phone companies get from text messaging, and analysts say there’s no end in sight to the financial blood letting.

They do it by offering messaging applications that let phone users chat for free on the carriers’ data networks or Wi-Fi. Some, like Pinger, make money from advertisements and work on computers as well.

The London-based Ovum research firm estimates telecommunications companies lost nearly $14 billion last year in text-messaging revenue as consumers migrated to applications allowing them to send messages over cell phone data networks.

Ovum said the companies still took in an estimated $153 billion, but that was down 9 percent from a year earlier, and Pinger co-founder Joe Stipher wants to reduce the amount even more.

“Text messaging is free, and calling is going to be free,” said Stipher, wearing jeans in contrast to the dark suits favored by thousands of cell phone company executives attending the 2012 Mobile World Congress that ends Thursday. “Data is going to be like electricity or water, not totally free, but do you worry about giving someone a glass of water at your home or letting them plug in? No.”

Needless to say, mobile companies are not happy at the flood of free messaging services piggybacking their networks. Telecom Italia SpA chief executive Franco Bernabe told MWC that free messaging services are undercutting the ability of phone companies to invest in their networks. Paid texting, or SMS, has been a cash cow for phone companies that uses minimal network capacity.

The new “players have based their innovation in the mobile domain, without a deep understanding of the complex technical environment of our industry. This is increasingly creating significant problems to the overall service offered to the end user and driving additional investments for mobile operators,” Bernabe said.

After years of study, the big telecommunications operators announced this week that they will try to fight back by introducing software this year embedded in new cellphones that will allow users to do the same sort of Internet-based messaging and voice calls that consumers want without paying separate fees.

The new messaging method introduced by the industry group GSMA, or Groupe Speciale Mobile Association, is dubbed “Joyn” and will be launched this year by operators in France, Germany, Italy and South Korea. In industry parlance, the application is known as “Rich Communications Suite,” or RCS.

Joyn tries to deal with one major shortcoming of the messaging apps _ both the sender and the recipient have to have the same app. But it’s not clear if RCS will work on every phone. Apple Inc., for example, has a long history of not playing by mobile company rules.

“Since Rich Communications (Suite) will be fully integrated in devices, there is no need for our customers to download or install anything,” said Rene Obermann, chief executive of Germany’s Deutsche Telekom AG. “Ease of use is thus ensured and it will just work. We are looking forward to offer new services like text chat, file and live video sharing during a call to our customers soon.”

But analysts say there’s no way of knowing whether consumers will migrate to Joyn until after it is released and consumers try it out, and note that the last major technological advance by mobile operators came in the 1990s, when text messaging was launched. And cell phones issued by mobile carriers often come loaded with software that many people rarely or never use because they don’t like them.

“It is possible this will be their last chance to see if they can play more of a role,” said Pamela Clark-Dickson, an analyst at London’s Informa Telecoms & Media research group. “The user experience is key, and if they don’t get it right people won’t use it.”

The GSMA didn’t say how operators will charge for Joyn _ and how much. The carriers face an uphill battle denting the popularity of the free messaging services. WhatsApp chief executive officer Jan Koum told the mobile congress that its users are now sending more than 2 billion messages per day, up from 1 billion in October. The much smaller Pinger saw its users send 2 billion messages in January, up from 1.7 billion in December, Sipher said.

And he says the mobile operators should stay away from free messaging because “they aren’t good at it and haven’t done applications.”

“The carriers should be smart, reliable pipes” providing Internet data access like utilities give reliable water and electricity, he said. “They need to focus on being good network operators.”

Obermann said carriers are at a crucial point at which they must “develop our own, innovative product suites” through cooperation with the smaller messaging companies.

“The smart pipe will be one of the areas where (telecommunications companies) will show their innovation,” he said.

His company’s venture capital division, T-Venture, took a stake in Pinger last week just before MWC started, announcing it would provide $7.5 million in venture capital to help Pinger grow internationally, especially in Europe.

For Sipher, it’s a sign that some operators realize they need to work with messaging startups instead of against them.

“We’re saying to the telecoms that we’re here, we’re big, and we’re playing,” Sipher said. “When’s the last time a carrier introduced a successful application? That would be SMS and that’s almost 15 years ago.”

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The economy grew at a slightly faster pace in the final three months of last year, and Americans earned more income than previously reported. That could set the stage for stronger growth this year.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that the economy expanded at a 3 percent annual rate in the October-December quarter _ the fastest pace since the spring of 2010. It exceeded the previous estimate of 2.8 percent. And it was better than the third quarter’s 1.8 percent growth rate.

The growth estimate was revised up because consumers spent more than first thought, and businesses cut spending by much less. Imports rose by a smaller amount.

The report also showed that incomes rose in the second half of last year by more than previously estimated. Americans saved more, too.

Much of the growth in the fourth quarter was driven by companies restocking their shelves. Many had cut their inventories over the summer, when they thought the economy was on the verge of a recession.

That didn’t happen. In fact, the economy has steadily improved since then. Still, companies likely scaled back the pace of their restocking at the start of the year to match the pace of consumer spending. That should slow growth in the current quarter.

Economists predict growth at an annual pace of 2 percent in the January-March quarter, according to a survey by the National Association of Business Economics. Growth will reach 2.4 percent for the full year, up from 2011’s increase of 1.7 percent, the survey found.

A host of recent data has made many analysts more optimistic about this year’s prospects. Companies have stepped up hiring, pushing the unemployment rate down for five straight months to 8.3 percent.

U.S. factories boosted output last month and December was their strongest month of growth in five years. Consumer confidence rose to its highest point in a year this month, the Conference Board reported Tuesday. That could signal Americans are ready to step up spending, which would fuel more growth. Consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of economic activity.

Some trends likely to slow growth in the current quarter are still good for consumers. The warm winter weather will likely mean Americans won’t have to spend as much to heat their homes. But that technically will lower the economy’s growth rate.

The economy was held back in the fourth quarter by a big drop in government defense spending. Defense spending is unlikely to be much of a factor in the current quarter, economists say.

Growth could be slowed or even derailed this year by rising gas prices, which have jumped 30 cents in the past month. That forces consumers to spend more for the same amount of gas and leaves less money for other purchases. A sharp rise in gas prices early last year choked off growth after companies began the year with a burst of hiring.

But so far, the increase isn’t enough to cause a repeat of last year’s disappointment, economists say. With hiring accelerating and incomes higher, consumers are better able to afford higher prices at the pump.

And the prices of other goods also jumped last year, particularly food, as well as other energy sources such as natural gas. But natural gas costs have plummeted recently while food prices are rising at a much slower pace. Those trends should offset some of the squeeze on spending from pricier gas.

The government makes three estimates of the gross domestic product for each quarter. The GDP is the economy’s total output of goods and services and includes everything from autos to utility output to haircuts. Each revision is based on more complete economic data.

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Of all the bank fees that customers love to hate, overdraft charges on checking accounts have to be near the top. The government’s new consumer protection agency appears to agree.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Wednesday that it will investigate overdraft fees, including how they are marketed and explained to customers. The agency said the probe could result in additional rules, perhaps even lawsuits.

Overdraft fees are charged by banks when customers try to spend more money than they have in an account. Banks will allow the transaction, then charge the customer a penalty of as much as $35.

“We’ve heard many stories about the $40 cup of coffee,” the agency’s director, Richard Cordray, told reporters and representatives from banks and consumer groups.

Cordray and representatives from four consumer advocacy groups said that the overdraft fees hurt the people who can least afford them because poorer customers are more likely to drain their checking accounts to close to zero.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, the government has clamped down on bank practices that it considers unfair, such as marketing credit cards to teenagers. Banks have complained some of the government’s moves have been too intrusive.

In 2010, the Federal Reserve barred banks from automatically enrolling customers in so-called overdraft protection programs for debit card or ATM transactions. Without overdraft protection, a transaction is declined if the customer can’t cover it.

The rule did not apply to checks, online bill payments or recurring debits, such as having the monthly cable bill automatically sent to your debit card. It also did not limit how much banks can charge for the service.

Banks have responded by marketing overdraft protection aggressively. Some told customers that opting out of overdraft protection could prevent them from making everyday transactions, including “medical or health emergencies,” according to research published last year by the Center for Responsible Lending, a consumer group that opposes overdraft fees.

Cordray said the problem is not just the fees but that banks often don’t explain them clearly. One bank, which he did not name, required customers to visit three different websites and scroll through 50 pages of dense text just to get an explanation, he said.

Cordray praised banks for finding ways to help customers avoid the fees, such as not charging overdrafts for purchases of less than $5 or giving customers 24 hours to add more money to an account payday loans direct lenders.

Representatives of consumer groups who appeared with Cordray said customers would rather have their cards declined than be charged the fee. A representative of Citigroup, one of the country’s largest banks, said customers prefer to avoid the embarrassment.

Andrew Rowe, a senior vice president from Bank of America, said the bank has started giving customers “clarity statements” to explain fees and sending them text messages when their accounts drop below $25. Last month, Bank of America sent 20 million such texts to 8 million customers, Rowe said.

Bank of America was a leader in trimming overdraft fees beginning in 2009, when Brian Moynihan, now the CEO, was running the bank’s consumer banking unit. At the time, the bank owed $45 billion in government bailout loans. It has since paid the money back.

Banks have also drawn criticism for a practice known as “re-ordering” _ when a bank takes all the purchases a customer makes in a single day and subtracts the biggest ones from the customer’s account first. Banks say it helps customers pay their most important bills first, like mortgages and student loans. Consumer groups say it’s a way to rake in fees.

The practice has been challenged in class-action lawsuits around the country. Bank of America settled one case for $410 million last July. JPMorgan Chase agreed this month to pay $110 million to settle similar claims.

The CFPB, born out of outrage over the financial crisis and the banking practices that led to it, said it would focus on four areas: re-ordering, missing or confusing information, misleading marketing and disproportionate impact on low-income and young customers.

According to a 2008 study by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., 9 percent of checking accounts incur 84 percent of overdraft fees. The study found that nearly half of younger cardholders paid the fees.

The CFPB also is requesting public input on the idea of a “penalty fee box” _ a disclosure on checking account statements that would highlight overdrafts and related fees.

The agency said it plans to issue a report by the end of the year.

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Follow Daniel Wagner at www.twitter.com/wagnerreports.

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Markets reacted cautiously Tuesday to the news that Greece finally secured its second massive bailout in less than two years, which is aimed at giving the debt-ridden country the breathing room to enact widespread economic reforms and set it back on the path to growth and prosperity.

That is the most optimistic hope in Europe’s capitals but with many hurdles still to be cleared and the country still lumbered with massive amounts of debt even after its private creditors agreed to a huge writedown of debt, the prevailing view in the markets is that Greece remains insolvent and that its debt crisis still has a few more chapters to run.

“This deal clearly does not solve Greece’s problems or that of the rest of the eurozone. What it does do is buy some time,” said Louise Cooper, markets analyst at BGC Partners. “This deal does not rule out a breakup of the eurozone. It does not rule out a Greek default in the future, it does not prevent contagion and does not help the wider eurozone indebtedness problem.”

The heart of the deal that emerged after 12 hours or so of wrangling in Brussels is that Greece’s partners in the 17-country eurozone have agreed to hand over another euro130 billion ($170 billion) to the country in the hope that it will avoid a potentially disastrous default as soon as next month, and secure the euro currency.

On top of the new rescue loans, Athens will also ask banks and other investment funds to forgive it some euro107 billion ($142 billion) in debt, while the European Central Bank and national central banks in the eurozone will forgo profits on their holdings.

However, the pieces of the jigsaw have yet to be put in place and many in the markets think that there will be more high-wire acts in the Greek debt drama. Perhaps most important of all will be Greek elections, due in April, which will take place at a time when the country’s economy is in freefall and unemployment is standing at a record rate above 20 percent.

With the parties of the governing coalition struggling to get a combined 30 percent in opinion polls, there are real fears in the markets that anti-bailout forces may win the day, or at least hold the balance of power.

“With the recession thwarting debt reduction efforts and public outrage growing, we still see Greece leaving the eurozone before the year is out,” said Jennifer McKeown, senior European economist at Capital Economics bad credit pay day loans.

Over recent days, stocks have rallied in the hope that a deal would be secured and that Greece would avoid defaulting on its debts in a disorderly fashion that could hobble a tentative improvement in the global economy.

The eurozone _ and Greece _ had been under pressure to reach an accord quickly to prevent Athens from defaulting on a euro14.5 billion ($19.2 billion) bond payment on March 20. The fear has been that an uncontrolled bankruptcy even of relatively small Greece could unleash market panic across the rest of the continent. That would further unsettle other struggling countries like Ireland, Portugal or the much bigger Italy or Spain.

Despite the promise of new rescue loans, which come on top of a euro110 billion ($146 billion) bailout granted in 2010, the other 16 euro countries made clear that their trust in Greece is running low. Before Athens will see any new funds, it has to put into practice a whole range of previously promised cuts and reforms.

With the deal agreed, many investors took profits on the gains they have mustered over recent days.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 0.4 percent at 5,919 while the CAC-40 in France fell 0.9 percent to 3,441. Germany’s DAX was 0.8 percent lower at 3,890.

The euro was faring slightly better, trading 0.2 percent higher on the day at $1.3230.

Wall Street was poised for a modest advance later as it returns from a long holiday weekend _ Dow futures were up 0.3 percent at 12,969 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 futures rose 0.2 percent to 1,363.

Earlier, Asian shares were mixed as they awaited the developments in Brussels.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.2 percent at 9,463.02 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.3 percent to 21,478.72

In the oil markets, the attention was as much on Iran as on Greece. Earlier, Iran has laid out conditions for future oil exports to European countries after halting sales to Britain and France earlier this week.

Benchmark crude was up $1.49 to $104.73 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Wynn Resorts says it forcibly bought back shares from its biggest stakeholder after finding the Japanese tycoon made improper payments to gambling regulators.

The Las Vegas company says it took action against Kazuo Okada after a year-long investigation uncovered that he engaged in activities that violated U.S. anti-corruption laws. Wynn has asked Okada to resign from the board.

The company says discoveries include cash payments and gifts totaling about $110,000 to foreign gaming regulators

Okada is the founder of casino game maker Universal Entertainment. He held an almost 20 percent stake in Wynn Resorts Ltd.

An email was sent seeking comment from Okada but it generated no immediate response.

Wynn says it filed a lawsuit against Okada and Universal Entertainment in Nevada District Court for breach of fiduciary duty and related offenses.

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Just two years after it was rescued and reconstituted through bankruptcy and a government bailout, General Motors Co. cruised through 2011 to post the biggest profit in its history.

The 103-year-old company, leaner and smarter under new management, cut costs by taking advantage of its size around the globe. And its new products boosted sales so much that it has reclaimed the title of world’s biggest automaker from Toyota.

GM may have a hard time breaking this record in 2012 because it is losing money in Europe and South America, and U.S. sales growth slowed in the last three months.

But the company’s performance in North America and Asia still helped it earn $7.6 billion for the year, beating the record of $6.7 billion set during the truck boom in 1997.

The profit won’t stop the debate about spending $49.5 billion in taxpayer dollars to save GM. But it did drive up the company’s stock price, which could help the government get more of its money back.

The bailout of GM and Chrysler Group LLC, begun by George W. Bush and finished by Barack Obama, remains a major issue in this year’s presidential campaign. It’s so politically charged that even a Super Bowl ad celebrating Chrysler’s rebirth caused arguments.

GM, which released its earnings Thursday, performed best in its home territory, posting a $7.2 billion pretax profit in North America. The numbers were so good that 47,500 blue-collar workers will get $7,000 profit-sharing checks, the maximum allowable under their new union contract. International Operations, which includes Asia, made $1.9 billion before taxes, but that was down from 2010.

GM’s cost cuts, and its outlook for this year helped to push up the stock price by almost 9 percent to $27.08. The company said it trimmed costs by $500 million in the fourth quarter alone mainly by consolidating advertising agencies and engineering operations. A prediction that costs wouldn’t rise this year wowed investors, especially since other automakers have forecast rising costs, said Itay Michaeli, an analyst for Citi Investment Research.

“That was a very pleasant surprise,” he said.

GM also was optimistic about sales and revenue. It sees its global market share holding steady at 11.9 percent, and if global auto sales rise as expected this year, GM’s slice of that would also increase no fax cash loans.

That’s especially promising, since GM managed to make money last year with industry-wide sales in the U.S. at a historically low 12.8 million. Sales this year could rise to 14 million.

The company expects to charge more for its cars and trucks this year, but warned that the prices could be pressured as the market shifts toward smaller, less-expensive vehicles.

CEO Dan Akerson hinted at a better year for GM in 2012, saying that the company will build on the 2011 results as it brings more new products into the market.

“The outlook here is quite favorable for earnings growth,” said Citi’s Michaeli. “They’re keeping their costs really under control.”

That’s good news for the U.S. government, which still owns 26.5 percent of the company and needs more strong earnings to push up the stock price.

The government owns 500 million shares of GM, which it got in exchange for the $49.5 billion bailout. Through earlier stock sales and loan repayments, the government has recouped about $22.3 billion of that money. The remaining shares would have to double in price and sell for around $53 for the government to get back the rest.

Despite the big annual profit and optimistic outlook, GM still lost $747 million before taxes in Europe last year, and its losses are expected to continue until a restructuring plan takes hold.

Akerson said GM will have to cut its European factory capacity to match lower sales. South America lost money, too: $122 million for the year. GM’s fourth-quarter profit fell 8 percent, and its U.S. sales growth slowed in the quarter even as more Americans bought cars and trucks.

Also, GM’s U.S. stockpile of cars and trucks is growing, and that could force it to offer discounts, especially in competitive market segments like pickup trucks and midsize cars. In January, GM’s inventory was about 620,000, enough to supply its dealers for 89 days. That’s up by more than 100,000 from a year earlier, when GM had a 68-day supply, according to Ward’s AutoInfoBank.

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Japan

Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi said his nation

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Battered by the strong yen and supply disruptions from Thailand’s floods, Honda said Tuesday that its net earnings in the October-December quarter tumbled 41 percent to 47.6 billion yen ($625 million) and projected a sharply lower full-year profit.

The Japanese automobile and motorcycle maker forecast it would earn 215 billion yen for the fiscal year through March, down nearly 60 percent from the 534 billion yen it earned the previous fiscal year.

Honda had scrapped its earnings forecast in October, when it reported its previous quarterly results, because the flooding in Thailand _ a key Asian production hub for Honda and many Japanese companies _ made the outlook too uncertain.

Honda stopped making cars at its automobile assembly plant in Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok, in October after it was damaged in the worst floods to hit Thailand in 50 years. The company said in a statement that it was making progress on draining the plant of flood water and cleaning up equipment, and that production was expected to resume by the end of March.

The flooding also disrupted the output at many Honda suppliers in Thailand, forcing it to reduce production as far away as the U.S. and Canada. Honda said production in neighboring Asian countries interrupted by the problems in Thailand was expected to return to normal by April.

All told, the problems related to flooding in Thailand have cost the company 260,000 vehicles in lost production worldwide, according to Tomohiro Okada, a company spokesman.

Quarterly sales slid 8 percent during the fiscal third quarter to 1.942 trillion yen.

The strong yen, which erodes Japanese exporters’ foreign earned income when repatriated, also ate into the company’s income. Declines due to unfavorable exchange rates accounted for 33.6 billion yen, or nearly half, of the 73.1 billion yen drop in net income before taxes reported the same quarter a year ago, Okada said.

A bright spot for the company was its motorcycle business, amid strong demand in emerging markets. Motorcycle sales rose 6.3 percent during the quarter to nearly 3.1 million units.

(This version CORRECTS Corrects impact from currencies in paragraph 8, adds lost production of vehicles from Thai flooding in paragraph 6, adds details about growth in motorcycle business)

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