Mobile banking service Pocopay has launched in the Netherlands, Spain and its home country of Estonia to let consumers split bills, request money using email addresses or QR codes and make payments via a MasterCard contactless debit card... More
Archive for February 2016
Apple Pay adds 32 banks in the US
Apple has added a further 32 banks and credit unions to its list of Apple Pay supporting financial institutions in the US... More
MoboMoney takes sound-based mobile payments to India
Indian consumers can now make payments at participating retail locations using their mobile device and sound based technology developed by startup ToneTag. The feature has been integrated into MoboMoney, an NFC payments platform launched by information technology provider Tech Mahindra in December 2015, to extend the service to a greater number of mobile devices and merchants across the country. More
White paper lays out NFC solutions for in-home healthcare providers
A five-page white paper that explains the advantages of NFC for in-home healthcare providers is now available to download from the NFC World+ Knowledge Centre... More
FitPay closes $3.1m round led by G&D
Wearable payments provider FitPay has closed a US$3.1m seed funding round led by Giesecke & Devrient (G&D)... More
Samsung looks into vein authentication
A patent filed by Samsung describes how a sensor on a smartwatch or other wearable device could authenticate identity by reading the user’s vein structure... More
APCA explores security code for digital wallets in Australia
Members of the Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA) are currently exploring the possibility of implementing a voluntary code of practice to regulate digital wallets in the country... More
Apple Pay available in more than 2m US retail locations
Apple Pay is now available in more than 2m US retail locations, according to Bloomberg, with the Crate & Barrel, Chick-fil-A and Au Bon Pain chains also due to roll out the service soon... More
Apple begins selling Square contactless reader
Apple has begun selling mobile POS provider Square’s US$49 contactless readers in its US stores as well as online... More
Viber to add money transfers to messaging app
The more than 664m users of messaging app Viber will soon be able to send money to friends and family from anywhere in the world thanks to an integration with money transfer network Western Union... More
European Central Bank to develop P2P service
The European Central Bank is working on a system that would let consumers transfer money to each other based on a phone number or email address... More
Charity goes contactless for World Cancer Day
UK consumers can make a £2 donation to Cancer Research UK by tapping their contactless card against small portable readers being launched in London, Glasgow, Liverpool and Leeds as part of today’s World Cancer Day fundraising campaign... More
MobileNow! enables parking payments from Apple Watch
Apple Watch users can now pay for parking across the US directly from their wrist with a “few simple taps” using the MobileNow! app. The service can also be used to extend parking sessions. More
Amazon Echo adds Domino’s pizza orders
US customers of pizza chain Domino’s can now speak their orders into Amazon’s Echo voice-driven home shopping device, which is supported by virtual assistant Alexa... More
Global mobile payment market to hit $620bn in 2016
Consumers across the globe will use their mobile phones to spend a total of US$620bn on all forms of mobile transaction this year, representing a 37.8% year-on-year growth from $450bn in 2015, research from TrendForce reveals. By 2017, total mobile payment revenue will reach $780bn, climbing to $930bn in 2018 and $1.08tn in 2019. More
GlobalPlatform updates NFC SIM spec
Standards body GlobalPlatform has extended the scope of UICC Configuration, its implementation guide for deploying GlobalPlatform Card Specification v2.3 within the mobile services sector and managing the secure, over-the-air delivery of new services... More
Musician Beatie Wolfe promotes new single with NFC jacket
British singer songwriter Beatie Wolfe is promoting the release of her new single with an NFC jacket that lets fans listen to the song by tapping their NFC phone onto the fabric... More
MyWallet NFC payments service put on hold in Slovakia
Mobile network operator Slovak Telekom, majority owned by Germany’s Deutsche Telekom, is shutting down its MyWallet NFC service on a temporary basis... More
Russian mobile payments startup raises US$3.8m
Russian mobile payments startup PayQR has received an investment of 300m rubles (US$3.8m) from businessman Sergey Kozlovsky... More
NXP updates NFC Taginfo app
PARTNER NEWS: An Android app described as a “Swiss Army knife for NFC” has been updated and can now also interrogate Mifare Plus SL3 cards... More