The World Economic Forum has released a Policy‑Maker Toolkit for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), designed “to help central banks evaluate, design and potentially deploy CBDC”... More
Apple has introduced a new Apple Watch Connected gym program that provides users with exclusive rewards at gyms that make use of the wearable device’s NFC payments and tap-to-connect capabilities... More
Public transportation users in Sydney, Australia, are now using their contactless debit card, credit card or linked device to make 1.5m journeys a week, Transport for NSW has revealed. More
New York City has joined New Jersey, Philadelphia and San Francisco in passing legislation that makes it illegal for stores, restaurants and other retail outlets to not accept cash... More
The Payment & Clearing Association of China (PCAC) has published a set of guidelines that regulate how payments providers making use of face recognition to process payments at the point of sale (POS) should manage the protection of consumer data. More
Consumers purchasing premium Sicilian blood oranges will be able to track the provenance of the product using a new system that combines NFC tags and sensors placed on each box of oranges with a blockchain-based tracking system... More
Card issuers in India are to be required to ship all new cards to customers with contactless functionality switched off by default — and also provide cardholders with a range of easy ways to toggle their card’s contactless support on or off. More
Huawei starts its mobile wallet service Huawei Pay in Pakistan — Technology Times — “Huawei has launched its mobile wallet service Huawei Pay in Pakistan in cooperation with UnionPay International and National Bank of Pakistan, making it the fourth market where Huawei Pay has been made available, following China, Russia and Hong Kong.”
The number of consumers using open banking has doubled in the past six months to more than one million, the UK’s Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) reports, and there are now a total of 204 regulated service providers — up from 100 at the end of 2018... More
US P2P payments app Venmo is adding support for a suite of custom-designed animated emojis that can be used “when paying, splitting and sharing payments” and include branded options from both Subway and Ikea... More
The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Sveriges Riksbank and the Swiss National Bank, together with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), are to work together “to assess potential cases for central bank digital currencies”... More
Russia’s Sberbank is launching an app for its Spasibo loyalty programme that will make it possible for customers to transfer their loyalty points to a friend or family member, either as a small gift or so they can “save up Spasibo points for a large purchase together”. More
Customers of India’s Icici Bank can now make a cash withdrawal at any of the bank’s 15,000 ATMs, using just their mobile phone... More
Public transportation users in the Portuguese city of Porto will be able to begin using their bank card to tap on and off metro and tram services from the second quarter of 2020, Metro do Porto has announced... More
Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram drivers can now use Uconnect Market, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ new in-vehicle commerce platform, to pay for fuel at Shell-branded stations across the US... More
Port Authority to begin testing pay-by-smartphone; rollout expected by the end of the year — Port Authority of Allegheny County — “Hardware is being installed so Port Authority employees and select stakeholders can begin testing the application and associated hardware… Public testing and the public release of the mobile application are expected to occur later this year.”
Cash, plastic or hand? Amazon envisions paying with a wave — The Wall Street Journal — “The tech giant is creating checkout terminals that could be placed in bricks-and-mortar stores and allow shoppers to link their card information to their hands, according to people familiar with the matter. They could then pay for purchases with their palms, without having to pull out a card or phone.”
Integrating smart transit tickets into mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) solutions holds the promise of allowing consumers to easily plan and pay for journeys that make use of a full range of public transportation, bike, taxi, rideshare and other mobility options, UK ticketing standards body ITSO explains in a white paper now available to download from the NFCW Knowledge Centre.... More
Icici Bank launches India’s largest API banking portal with nearly 250 APIs — Icici Bank — “The Icici Bank API Banking portal, which consists of 250 APIs, enables developers of prospective partner companies across the globe to seamlessly sign up on it, create an application, select the application, test it out and get the sample code. With this, businesses, fintechs, corporates and e-commerce start-ups can easily partner with the Bank and co- create innovative customer solutions in a frictionless manner, all from the convenience of a single portal.”
Overwhelming response on first day of RM30 e-Tunai initiative — The Star — “The claims for the e-Tunai Rakyat initiative kicked off today with Touch ‘n Go eWallet, Boost and GrabPay selected to be the service providers for the project… Malaysians aged 18 and above and who earn less than RM100,000 (US$24,533) annually will be eligible to receive RM30 (US$7.36) each through any of the participating e-wallets.”
