Japan, SK get mobile payment service

SK Telecom, Japan's KDDI, and Softbank Mobile are jointly developing a mobile payment service, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The move is expected to allow mobile phone users in both South Korea and Japan to settle payments with their cellphones anywhere within the two countries.

"Customers will be able to enjoy easy and convenient payment and additional services such as coupon benefits seamlessly without the need of renting and changing phones when visiting each other's country," says an SK Telecom statement.

The North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) acknowledges it is losing revenue by failing to collect tolls from too many of its customers and is searching for a way to increase collections, states Dallas News.

The NTTA uses about 2 000 cameras to monitor its highways, and yet one out of every three drivers without a toll tag is never identified and never billed. In the first three months of 2010, about 15% of NTTA customers used its roads without a toll tag.

But NTTA officials say the high number of un-billable accounts doesn't change their view that the transition to all-electronic tolling was a wise move.

JPMorgan says it wants to make it easier for people to pay using their mobile phone, according to NACS Online.

The banker has added two new features to its iPhone application which allows users to deposit cheques and conduct person-to-person payments.

“The more people start using their phone and seeing their phone as a payment or a banking device, you're going to get adoption of a broader array of services,” says Jack Stephenson, director of mobile, e-commerce and payments for JPMorgan Chase.