Technology

SK Telecom Co. Ltd. has launched a Near Field Communication mobile-payment service called T Smart Pay in cooperation with Hana SK Card, the company announced recently.

Consumers' confidence in the economy fell in March after two consecutive months of gains, according to data from Discover Financial Services.

Total credit lines among the top five U.S. credit card issuers soared 56.5% to a peak of $3.74 trillion in 2007 from an aggregate $2.39 trillion in 2005 following the rise of home prices during the first half of the decade. But as the bubble burst in 2007 and housing values began to decline, followed by two years of recession, credit card customers defaulted on their accounts en masse, PaymentsSource data show.

CoCard Marketing Group LLC, a Nashville, Tenn.-based independent sales organization, has designated Dejavoo Systems as its primary point-of-sale terminal vendor, Dejavoo announced this week. CoCard’s Web site does not include a list of other POS products it offers.

Consumers Credit Union has switched to using PSCU Financial Services to handle its debit card and ATM processing, Jodi Gray, the Waukegan, Ill.-based credit union’s Visa card manager, tells PaymentsSource.

Mobile phones may soon be able to initiate automated clearing house transactions from checks, an advance that could hasten adoption of wireless devices for B-to-B payments.

In a sign that the efforts of the Secure Remote Payment Council are gaining notice in the industry, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has joined the organization as a general member and as a member of its board of directors.

Acculynk Inc., which enables merchants to accept PIN-debit purchases online, is broadening its offerings to include online card processing and is making its products available for resale through independent sales organizations, the company announced Wednesday.

Hoping to extend its reach to mobile merchants, USA ePay, a payment gateway, this week launched a portable card-acceptance machine that connects to Apple Inc.’s iPhone and iPod Touch products.

Adyen Inc., a Netherlands-based online payment gateway company, is expanding into the United States, the company announced April 5.