Global playing card producer Cartamundi is working with Holst Centre, an initiative set up by Belgian nanoelectronics research centre Imec and Dutch research institute TNO, to develop NFC tags that make use of metal-oxide (IGZO) thin-film transistor (TFT) technology on plastic film... More
Archive for November 2014
30% of US smartphone owners to use mobile payments this holiday season
Nearly one in three (30%) US smartphone owners say they plan to use mobile payment offerings such as Apple Pay or Google Wallet for shopping in stores this holiday season, Bluetooth ‘connected card’ maker Stratos’ 2014 Holiday Mobile Payments Survey has found... More
Drop offers beacon-based payments
Payments startup Drop has launched a mobile payments and loyalty solution that uses Bluetooth beacons to let shoppers order and pay from up to 200 feet away before picking up their purchase and leaving without having to wait in line at the point of sale... More
Square eyes global expansion
Square has updated its Register apps for iOS and Android to support 130 currencies and is in talks to bring its mPOS solution to Europe, TechCrunch reports... More
Saatchi & Saatchi designs beacon loyalty rewards for Japan’s TenTen Technologies
Japanese startup TenTen Technologies is to offer retailers USB-based Bluetooth beacons that plug into POS terminals and vending machines so that rewards can be issued automatically to users of the company’s mobile app when they make a purchase... More
First Bus takes Pingit nationwide
UK bus operator First Bus is to accept payment via Barclays Pingit nationwide following a trial launch in selected areas of the country... More
Millennials more open to mobile payments
Among US and UK consumers who have not yet used a mobile wallet, 18-34 year olds are the most enthusiastic when asked about the potential benefits, research from JWT Intelligence has found... More
Motorola secures Android and Apple devices with smart keyfob
Motorola has unveiled Motorola Keylink, a US$24.99 smart keyfob that uses Bluetooth Low Energy to enable iOS and Android device owners to track down their smartphone or their keys if they misplace them... More
United Airlines to let passengers pay for airport food and drinks using award miles
United Airlines is to install more than 6,000 iPads across Terminal C of Newark Liberty International Airport to enable members of the airline’s MileagePlus reward scheme to use their award miles to pay for food, beverages and other airport amenities... More
65% of Canadians plan to make mobile payments
Almost seven in ten Canadian smartphone owners (68%) are aware of NFC or QR codes and 65% are likely to make NFC or QR payments over the next six months, research by Visa Canada has revealed... More
Google Wallet adds refer-a-friend program
Google has introduced a refer-a-friend program to reward consumers with US$5 each time they introduce a friend to Google Wallet... More
White paper quantifies consumer attitudes to wearable payments
A white paper examining the attitudes of consumers to using smartwatches and other wearables for payments, ticketing and other applications is now available to download from the NFC World+ Knowledge Centre... More
SunTrust adds Apple Pay
SunTrust Banks is now offering Apple Pay to its clients and merchants, joining a long list of US banks already supporting the NFC mobile payment solution... More
US mobile payments to reach $142bn in 2019
US mobile payments volumes will grow from $52bn in 2014 to $142bn by 2019, according to a new forecast from Forrester... More
inMarket hits 18% of US mobile shoppers
Mobile in-store marketing solution provider inMarket’s iBeacon platform now reaches 31.5m monthly active consumers, the equivalent of 18% of all US mobile users, according to research conducted by Comscore... More
Bi-Lo adds Apple Pay
Bi-Lo Holdings, parent company of the Bi-Lo, Harveys and Winn-Dixie grocery store chains, has announced that it now supports Apple Pay in all of its 830 outlets in eight US states... More
Polish banks join up for launch of Blik mobile payments service
The National Bank of Poland has given the go-ahead for the launch of Blik, a mobile payments service backed by six Polish banks that lets customers make payments in stores and online, withdraw cash from ATMs and send P2P transfers with their mobile phones... More
Post Office offers Tweet-to-donate service
The Post Office has launched Tweet to Donate, a service developed with IMImobile that allows Twitter users to tweet cash donations to the UK’s Children in Need charity... More
Venmo adds TouchID
Users of the Venmo mobile payment app can now sign in with Apple’s TouchID feature on the iPhone 5S, 6 and 6 Plus... More
Japan Airlines tests battery-free beacons at 13 airports
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons that use energy harvesting technology to avoid the need to change batteries have been installed by Japan Airlines (JAL) at 13 major Japanese airports to provide users of its JAL Countdown mobile app with “real-time departure, gate and other timely information”... More