PARTNER NEWS: Proxama has signed a five-year contract with a “leading South African insurance and financial services provider” for the supply of in-house EMV card issuing, PIN management and card life cycle management... More
Archive for February 2017
Chrome 56 adds BLE connectivity to web apps
Consumers can now communicate with nearby Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices through web apps using Google’s Chrome 56 update for Android... More
Cities will launch own digital currencies ‘within 10 years’
Cities will begin separating from their country’s national currency to launch their own digital money within 10 years, according to the CEO of blockchain-based financial network Bluzelle... More
Music fans pay for drinks with finger veins
Customers at London music venue Proud Camden can now pay for orders using Fingopay finger vein technology and get £10 cashback to spend on their next visit... More
Apple accuses Australian banks of Apple Pay transaction fee ‘trojan horse’
Australian banks are using fees on Apple Pay transactions as a “trojan horse” to discourage the use of its mobile payments service and to condition consumers to accept transaction fees with the “longer term view to setting a precedent for charging for mobile payments on other digital wallets,” Apple claims in its latest submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)... More
Samsung Pay to get Amex support for India launch?
Samsung is partnering with American Express for the launch of Samsung Pay in India, expected in the first half of 2017, according to a source quoted by Mashable... More
Apple Pay to add loyalty?
“Close financial partners and job postings on Apple’s career page hint that the company is interested in more closely integrating Apple Pay into loyalty programs that reward customers for using the mobile wallet,” Quartz reports... More
Smart Benches offer Londoners chance to make contactless charity donations
Ten Smart Benches have been installed across London to enable passersby to donate £2 (US$3) to Cancer Research UK with a tap of their contactless debit or credit card. The Smart Bench network is currently being piloted in two boroughs in the city, with a further 90 benches to be permanently rolled out later this year. More
Liverpool gets own currency built with blockchain
The UK city of Liverpool has launched its own digital currency using blockchain technology supplied by Tel-Aviv-based digital wallet provider Colu... More
France to increase contactless limit to €30
The contactless spending limit in France will increase from €20 (US$21) to €30 (US$32) at the end of this year... More
Young Brits adopting mobile wallets
Two thirds of 18- to 25-year-olds in the UK (64%) are using a mobile wallet, while only 14% have “no interest” in doing so, research released by social money transfer app Moneymailme reveals... More
Turkish bank offers ATM cash withdrawals with eye scans
Customers of Turkish bank Yapı Kredi can now log in to their mobile banking app and withdraw cash from ATMs with a scan of their eyes through an integration with EyeVerify’s Eyeprint ID platform... More
Tim Hortons and Burger King to get mobile order and pay?
Customers at Tim Hortons and Burger King restaurants in Canada will soon be able to order and pay in advance using a mobile phone app... More
Contactless tins triple charity donations
The average size of donations made to a UK charity using contactless collection tins was more than three times larger than the average cash donation, The Telegraph reports... More
Apple Pay in Australia ‘will encourage credit card competition’
Apple Pay could encourage competition between banks on credit cards in Australia, prompting more promotions and discounts, according to Apple’s latest submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)... More
Australian festival goers trial contactless sunglasses for payments
Festival goers at the St Jerome’s Laneway Festival taking place across five Australian cities are trialling prototype sunglasses that let them make contactless payments by tapping them against a contactless POS terminal... More
Bluetooth bus ticketing trial lets passengers travel without buying a ticket
Bus passengers in northern England are trialling a mobile ticketing system that works with Bluetooth beacons placed on buses and at bus stops, and a smartphone app that tracks the user’s journey and then charges them the best-value price over the course of a day or week... More
Google to shut down Hands Free mobile payments pilot
Google is ending its Hands Free mobile payments pilot in one week’s time in order to focus its efforts on “bringing the best of the Hands Free technology to a wider audience,” according to the company... More
Samsung to bring Mini version of Samsung Pay to all Android handsets
Samsung is to launch a pared-down version of Samsung Pay which will make the mobile payments service available on all Android handsets... More
Mobile wallet spending to rise 32% in 2017
The amount of money spent around the world using a mobile wallet will rise by nearly 32% this year to US$1.35tn, Juniper Research predicts... More