SKGroup unit to offer electronic wallet solutions in U.S., Canada and Mexico from 2011.

South Korea's SK C&C, a technology service affiliate of SK Group, said Thursday that it has teamed up with the U.S.-based First Data Corp. to jointly provide Trusted Service Manager services in a bid to enter the U.S. mobile commerce market. In mobile payment technology, which allows users to pay for their purchases with mobile phones instead of using a traditional credit or debit card, the Trusted Service Manager helps make the process of downloading the payment account onto cellular phones efficient and secure. The South Korean company is eagerly seeking to tap the overseas mobile commerce market as a new source of growth to help it boost its bottom line. Under the partnership, SK C&C will offer Trusted Service Manager services and m-wallet, or electronic wallet, solutions, while the U.S. electronic payments processor will be responsible for marketing and sales. SK C&C said it and the U.S. company will start offering the mobile payment service in the U.S., Canada and in Mexico, from early 2011. "The mobile payment market is growing rapidly in the wake of smartphone boom worldwide," SK C&C Chief Executive Kim Shin-bae said in a statement. Kim said the latest deal will pave the way to further expand business opportunities in other overseas markets, such as China and Europe.