Consumers are increasingly opening new credit card accounts, which may suggest they are preparing to spend more money at retail.

The number of new cards issued in 2011 hit 42.3 million, marking a 14 percent increase from the previous year, a new report from TransUnion suggests. Approximately one-quarter of those cards, or 10.7 million, were given to Americans with poor credit histories.

Lending standards have tightened considerably, but the improvement of the U.S. economy is encouraging many consumers to apply for new credit cards. The better job outlook is also contributing to demand for new credit card accounts.

"Another factor helping make credit more available is that the rate of late payments has fallen dramatically in the past two years. Just 0.78 percent of card holders were late with payments by 90 days or more during the fourth quarter," Silicon Valley Mercury News notes, citing the report.

While mobile payments generated all the buzz last year, this further highlights the importance of having a point-of-sale system that can process credit cards.

With all the major credit card companies developing some means of making point-of-sale payments through mobile devices, JPMorgan Chase is the latest financial institution to announce its plans. The banking giant announced it has teamed up with GoPago, a mobile wallet company with big plans for expansion.

"Our partnership with Chase provides us with access to many millions of businesses out there," GoPago founder and CEO Leo Rocco told Internet Retailer.

To use GoPago, retailers must have an application installed on a tablet device or other point-of-sale system. Consumers can then open a different app and buy specific products through the program. To date, there are 50 merchants in Mountain View, California, that use GoPago, but more than 250 retailers in San Francisco will be added on March 1.

Participating merchants don't need to pay a startup fee, but will have a 5 percent fee cut from each transaction as a fee.

Half of smartphone owners are already using their handsets as a shopping companion, according to Nielsen, so it's only natural to turn the devices into mobile wallets as well.

Retailers are continuously looking for new ways to gather consumer information to improve store operations and boost revenues. While loyalty programs and email surveys persist as popular methods in doing so, new technology could help retailers even more.

California-based company Passbox has developed a game that retailers can use in-store to leverage consumers' increasing interactions with mobile and social networks, CSP Daily News reports.

The game is available to consumers at checkout via an Android-based touchscreen. While the consumer waits for their payment and purchase to be processed, they are directed to the five-to-eight second game. However, to play they must enter their phone number.

"By building a fun, game-like experience in the store that connects to your mobile phone and your social communities, you can inspire unprecedented levels of brand loyalty, driving incremental visits and sales growth," Mark Strauch, CEO of Passbox, told CSP Daily News.

Another way retailers are using mobile and social channels to collect information on their consumers is through the creation of apps, which customers can download and purchase.

PayPal, the eBay-owned online payment processor, has been vocal about its attempts to transition from the internet to the real world. Executive Don Kingsborough recently expanded on the company's plans to facilitate that shift, the Ottawa Citizen reports.

The digital payment processor has been particularly observant of the recent battles between retailers and traditional financial institutions over swipe fees. PayPal knows this is a contentious topic right now and senses an opportunity to win favor with retailers by subsidizing its new point-of-sale processing service, which implies merchants will have to pay significantly less than traditional fees if they opt for PayPal.

Discounts on fees aren't the only trick up PayPal's sleeve. The internet company also plans to share shopping and purchase data with retail brands, which will give them more insight into what people are buying and how customers are spending their money.

While PayPal still hasn't discussed how it will roll its new service out to retailers, the company plans to work with the biggest brands in the sector. Already, PayPal has partnered with Home Depot and an Office Depot test is in the works. The payment processor hopes to have more than 20 major retailers involved with the test program before the end of 2012.

"We are going to do it with the greatest brands in the world – Home Depot and every other top 100 retailer," Kingsborough told the news source. "There isn't a major brand who we haven't talked to."

PayPal's move to the physical world has caught the eye of many retail industry analysts, who categorize the shift as a high-risk, high-reward gambit. Consumers tend to prefer trusted financial companies when it comes to payment processing, but the recent falling out between merchants and credit card companies, along with rising ecommerce sales, may serve as a perfect storm for PayPal.

Whatever the outcome, PayPal is pursuing its expansion goals aggressively.

"2012 is trial and learn. 2013 and beyond is when we really scale it in the U.S. and globally and across categories," eBay chief executive officer John Donahoe notes. "That's the goal I'm holding Don to in 2012 – do we have a scalable product?"

Credit and debit cards remain popular, with a recent report from First Data suggesting transaction volumes of credit and debit cards increased during January.

Consumers used their credit and debits cards more often in January, suggesting retail spending was up for the month. Overall dollar volume growth climbed 7 percent and transaction growth increased 7.2 percent in January 2012 compared to the same time last year, according to a report from the First Data SpendTrend.

Credit cards exhibited the most growth in the two categories, improving by 7.8 percent in transaction growth and 8.5 percent in dollar volume growth. Signature debit was up 6.4 percent and 4.8 percent in both categories. First Data notes credit card spending resumed in January after consumers were hesitant to charge on their cards in December.

"Retailers benefited from the mild weather in January. Reduced energy and home heating expenses combined with lower food inflation provided consumers with extra income to spend on discretionary categories such as clothing and home goods," said Silvio Tavares, senior vice president and division manager of First Data Global Information and Analytics Solutions.

A separate report from the Federal Reserve suggests consumer debt jumped 7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, which indicates consumers are growing more confident in their ability to spend and pay off their bills.

Apple's iPad has already made its way into the hearts of many consumers, now the technology company is hoping to do the same with retailers. According to a recent report from Aruba Networks, approximately 56.2 percent of retail merchants plan to be using iPads to bolster their in-store efficiency.

Associates using the tablet devices will be able to browse retail websites, sign customers up for loyalty programs and reward initiatives, perform point-of-sale software tasks and accomplish other key goals. The iPad isn't the only piece of Apple technology infiltrating retail outlets – 38.5 percent also plan to issue iPhones to associates in an effort to accomplish the same goals.

"Today every other shopper walks into a store carrying a smartphone and increasingly using them for price comparison," Manish Rai, Aruba Networks' head of industry solutions, told Internet Retailer. "With an e-retailer with cheaper prices just a click away, bricks-and-mortar retailers are looking to differentiate in-store service to retain customers."

Several retailers have already integrated iPads in some capacity. For example, Moosejaw Mountaineering began leveraging the devices to help shoppers locate items.

While 2011 wasn't the year that mobile payments hit mainstream, it did seem as if payment technology was heading that way – Google rolled out its mobile Wallet App, PayPal announced its intent to enter the arena and several credit card processors announced mobile payment plans.

What's holding merchants from jumping at these services? According to VentureBeat, it may the cost of integration. While mobile payments may become the de facto point-of-sale solutions some day, the cost-to-benefit rate simply isn't worth it to retailers right now.

"Today's retail systems are so inflexible, the integration of any third-party systems will result in a huge IT expense for implementation," the technology blog explains. "The customization required so that all components of the point-of-sale system … interact with a new mobile payment platform without disrupting the operation of the existing systems is cumbersome … due to complex software integration."

Some retail brands are beginning to dabble in mobile payments. For example, Office Depot just teamed with PayPal to enable customers to pay using their phone numbers.

In order for mobile commerce to be truly successful, consumers need to feel safe entering confidential data – such as their credit card and bank information – into their smartphones. However, this continues to be a key hindrance to the proliferation of the payment platform.

A recent survey conducted by NetQin Mobile found that 73 percent of Americans were aware of security threats to smartphones. As a result, they fear their phones could be an easy way for criminals to gain access to private information. More than three-quarters of respondents (78 percent) were concerned a criminal would end up with their stolen phones.

There are other issues as well, such as the ability of unwanted organizations or people monitoring consumer location.

"Consumers also were concerned that they might be tracked via their smartphones," Internet Retailer notes, citing the report. "Ninety-five percent of respondents believe at least one entity can track their locations, though there is a variety of opinions about who that entity is."

More than 91 million Americans own smartphone devices, according to comScore data, highlighting the potential mobile commerce audience.

In 2012, store operations may be making big changes to retail point of sale software, as concerns about identity theft and fraud rise.

According to a survey by Digital Persona, nearly 70 percent of the more than 1,100 participants surveyed said they were considering switching their retail POS systems from password-based technology to biometric authentication.

The rising interest in biometrics has come as fraud has taken a greater toll on consumers and retailers. The study cited figures from The Centre for Retail Research's Global Theft Barometer that revealed approximately $40.7 billion going missing each year as a result of fraudulent employees.

"Despite the overwhelming indication that fraud and theft are major business concerns for POS security, it's surprising that over half of businesses still use the least secure method of user authentication," said Jim Fulton, vice president at DigitalPersona.

"The retail industry continues to be a victim of their own inaction – they know the use of passwords is a threat to their business, and yet will accept this situation despite the availability of cost-effective and proven alternatives," Fulton added.

PayPal, the online payment system owned by eBay, is slowly shifting into a universal way to pay. The payment company announced last week that it is teaming up with Home Depot to test PayPal acceptance at five physical store locations.

Users can pay using one of two methods at the point-of-sale. First, they could enter the phone number associated with their PayPal account along with a special identification number. Second, they could swipe a card that is already tied to their account. The transaction would then conducted through PayPal.

Home Depot was mum on how long the test would run or how many PayPal employees were involved in the pilot program.

"PayPal has made it clear it wants to be a player in bricks-and-mortar stores," George Peabody, director of the emerging technology advisory service at consulting firm Mercator Advisory Group, told Internet Retailer. "And they made it clear they want to play with the largest retailers."

This shift is not coming out of the blue. PayPal originally announced its intentions to gap the physical and digital worlds in a blog post last fall.