The number of Chinese consumers making in-store mobile payments more than doubled last year and almost half of all smartphone users in the country will be making proximity mobile payments by 2020, according to research released by eMarketer... More
Archive for June 2016
ICBPI to launch instant payment platform
Istituto Centrale delle Banche Popolari Italiane (ICBPI) is to establish an instant payments solution in the first quarter of 2017 in partnership with Danish payment services provider Nets... More
Mahindra Comviva wins GTB innovation award
PARTNER NEWS: Mobile financial solutions firm Mahindra Comviva and mobile network operator Airtel Tanzania have jointly won the Global Telecom Business (GTB) Innovation Award for Airtel Money Tap Tap NFC Payments in the customer service category... More
UOB reports strong uptake of Apple Pay in Singapore
Singapore bank UOB expects that NFC mobile payments will account for 10% of all its card transactions by 2020 on the back of “swift adoption of Apple Pay”, according to The Business Times... More
Tencent to ramp up WeChat Pay in Japan
Chinese internet giant Tencent is working to roll out its WeChat Pay mobile payment service to 10,000 Japanese stores by the end of 2016... More
Samsung Pay to launch in Australia next week
Samsung Pay is expected to launch in Australia next week, an invitation to a press conference scheduled for June 15 reveals... More
Erste Bank launches range of NFC payment options in Austria
Customers of Erste Bank und Sparkassen in Austria will now be able to make NFC payments using a wristband, sticker or mobile app launched by the bank. All three payment methods are available countrywide and can also be used to make withdrawals at the first NFC-enabled Erste Bank ATM in Vienna. More
Arab Media Forum uses NFC wristbands for charitable donations
Attendees at the Government of Dubai Media Office’s Arab Media Forum charitable event were given NFC wristbands that let them tap on NFC scan stations and donate AED 170 (US$46) towards research into life-threatening illnesses such as cancer, obesity and cardiovascular diseases. More
Microsoft to open up Windows Hello to wearables
Microsoft is to open up its Windows Hello biometric authentication solution so users can unlock a Windows 10 PC or laptop with a wearable device, the company announced during a keynote at Computex in Taiwan... More
HDFC Bank to launch mobile payments in India
India’s HDFC Bank is to launch a mobile payment service that will support NFC, host card emulation (HCE) and QR code based payments in order to compete with other mobile payment services that are expected to roll out in the country, including Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay... More
Emirates NBD to launch digital bank for millennials
Emirates NBD has announced plans to launch the UAE’s first digital bank targeted at millennials as part of its commitment to invest AED 500m (US$136m) in “digital innovation and multichannel transformation” over the next three years... More
GlobalPlatform reports on secure element shipments
A total of 17.7bn secure elements (SEs) based on GlobalPlatform specifications were deployed globally between 2010 and 2015, representing 41% of all SE shipments in that same period, the standards body has revealed... More
Mobvoi to add NFC payments to smartwatches in China
Owners of Mobvoi’s Ticwatch will soon be able to make NFC payments at contactless terminals across China as the result of a partnership between the smartwatch maker, China UnionPay (CUP) and Oberthur Technologies (OT). More
Commuters in Helsinki get direct carrier billing for transport ticketing with Gemalto
PARTNER NEWS: Finnish commuters travelling on the Helsinki transport network can now use their mobile phone to pay for public transport beyond the central tram and metro systems and have the cost of the ticket charged to their mobile phone bill... More
Ant Financial takes Alipay to Germany with Concardis
Chinese tourists will soon be able to make payments at 210,000 store locations in Germany serviced by payment provider Concardis using Ant Financial’s Alipay mobile payment platform. The move marks the service’s launch into Europe after the company unveiled its expansion plans at Money20/20 Europe in April 2016. More
European Commission approves Visa’s acquisition of Visa Europe
The European Commission has approved the proposed acquisition of Visa Europe by Visa... More
VTB Mobile Pay adds MasterCard support
Customers of VTB Bank in Georgia can now add their MasterCard debit and credit cards to its VTB Mobile Pay host card emulation (HCE) based mobile payment service following its launch with Visa and technology provider PriNum in October 2015... More
Apple Pay’s global impact remains “small”
Apple Pay has “made only a small dent in the global payments market” due to technical challenges, low consumer take-up and resistance from banks, according to a report by Reuters... More
Visa to supply athletes with NFC payment rings at Rio 2016
Athletes at this year’s Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be given an NFC payments ring linked to a Visa account that will let them make purchases by tapping their hand against contactless terminals. More
Samsung Pay makes European debut in Spain
Samsung Pay has begun rolling out across Spain, making it the first European market where the mobile payment service is available. The service has launched with support from CaixaBank and ImaginBank and will also be available for customers of Abanca and Banco Sabadell “soon”. More