NEC earbuds showcase hands-free biometric verification — New Atlas — “The new prototype earbuds are an application of NEC’s “hearable device user authentication technology”… NEC says the technology can identify the user within one second and with “greater than 99% accuracy”. Unlike biometrics based on the iris recognition or fingerprints, you don’t need to hold or look at your phone to use it.”
Archive for May 2017
New cloud framework for mobile biometrics
New cloud framework for mobile biometrics — The Stack — “Researchers from the IEEE have proposed a high-performance cluster cloud framework to help manage the mountains of data associated with mobile biometric authentication… the team found that using a cloud-based biometric authentication framework, or BAMCloud, helped to achieve network speed performance of over eight times more than alternate methods.”
Introducing Paytm Payments Bank
Introducing Paytm Payments Bank — Paytm — “We are proud to bring you Paytm Payments Bank — India’s first bank with zero charges on online transactions, no minimum balance requirement and free virtual debit card… Our ambition is to become India’s most trusted and consumer-friendly bank.”
Hackers defeat Samsung Galaxy S8 iris scanner
Hackers defeat Samsung Galaxy S8 iris scanner — Security Week — “Hackers of the Chaos Computer Club (CCC) in Germany have managed to defeat the iris recognition system on Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S8 smartphones… While an individual’s iris is unique, researchers from CCC showed that Samsung’s iris scanner can be defeated by showing it a picture of the victim’s eye.”
A guide to tokenization — The essential enabler for expanding the world of commerce
Tokenization is an essential enabler for a larger and more complex commerce world as the Internet of Things (IoT) propels payments to a range of new devices, says Proxama’s vice president of product marketing and product management for payments solutions... More
Hyundai’s Contactless Car launches at London’s King’s Cross station
Double Olympic champion and professional boxer Nicola Adams and TV presenter Jake Humphrey have unveiled car manufacturer Hyundai’s Contactless Car at London’s King’s Cross station, allowing passersby to donate to the Stand Up To Cancer charity with a tap of their contactless card or NFC mobile phone. More
Android Pay enters 11th global market with launch in Russia
Google has launched its Android Pay mobile payments service in Russia, allowing those with eligible Visa and Mastercard credit or debit cards issued from 15 supporting banks and financial institutions to make in-store and in-app payments using their compatible mobile devices. More
Samsung Pay goes live in Taiwan with seven banks
Samsung Pay has been launched across Taiwan with support from Visa and Mastercard along with seven major banks including Citibank, Cathay United Bank, E.Sun Commercial Bank, Taishin International Bank, Fubon Bank, Union Bank of Taiwan and Standard Chartered. The service supports iris scan authentication for those with Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ devices. More
Apple Pay violates patents held by security technology inventor, lawsuit alleges
Apple Pay violates patents held by security technology inventor, lawsuit alleges — The New York Times — “A small Boston company, founded by the inventor of a popular corporate encryption technology called RSA SecurID, sued Apple and Visa on Sunday, arguing that the Apple Pay digital payment technology violates its patents.”
Report: 70% of financial cards have chip
Report: 70% of financial cards have chip — International Card Manufacturers Association — “Chip cards represented 88.6% of revenue for cards globally manufactured in 2016… SIM cards make up the largest dollar market at $6.53 billion and the third largest unit market at 5.4 billion cards. Financial cards make up the second largest unit market and dollar market at 5.5 billion cards and $5.1 billion.”
NFC secure element shipments to grow 12% in 2017
Some 560m NFC secure elements will be shipped worldwide in 2017, representing a 12% increase from 2016, smart security industry association Eurosmart reveals. A total of 495m NFC secure elements were shipped in 2015, which increased by 1% in 2016 to reach 500m units. More
Researchers create a T-shirt that monitors the wearer’s breathing rate in real time
Researchers create a T-shirt that monitors the wearer’s breathing rate in real time — Université Laval — “The key to the smart T-shirt is an antenna sewn in at chest level that’s made of a hollow optical fiber coated with a thin layer of silver on its inner surface. The fiber’s exterior surface is covered in a polymer that protects it against the environment… As the wearer breathes in, the smart fiber senses the increase in both thorax circumference and the volume of air in the lungs… These changes modify some of the resonant frequency of the antenna.”
Tipping point for Apple Pay as majority of UK tills accept limitless payments
Tipping point for Apple Pay as majority of UK tills accept limitless payments — The Telegraph — “Jennifer Bailey, the head of Apple’s payments business, said over half of contactless payment terminals in the UK are now able to take Apple Pay transactions of any value. The company says Apple Pay transactions in the UK have grown by 300pc in the last year, with 23 banks now supporting the service.”
MUFG seeks to quicken cashless push with card unit buyout
MUFG seeks to quicken cashless push with card unit buyout — Nikkei — “Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group plans to turn a credit card unit into a wholly owned subsidiary and position it as a hub for new financial services such as virtual currency payment… MUFG’s move is driven by the prospect that cashless payment methods such as digital wallets and virtual currency will proliferate in Japan as financial technologies evolve.”
Jailbreak developer hacks NFC on iPhone 6S to talk to NFC devices
Jailbreak developer hacks NFC on iPhone 6S to talk to NFC devices — 9to5Mac — “In a brief video, the well-known developer showcases a jailbroken iPhone 6S interacting with an NFC-enabled tag. The phone promptly responds to the presence of the tag with a notification identifying the tag.”
Skin Motion unveils soundwave tattoos that play audio clips when scanned by a smartphone
Tattoo artists across the US, Australia, Austria and Singapore have signed up to start offering their customers augmented reality tattoos that get inked onto the skin and play audio clips when scanned by a smartphone using a mobile app that is due to be released in June 2017. More
BBVA integrates its financial services into social and messaging networks
BBVA integrates its financial services into social and messaging networks — BBVA — “BBVA customers can now interact in Spain with the bank via social networks and instant messaging services. BBVA has developed two new tools, Chatbot and BBVA Cashup, which allow customers to access financial information via Facebook and Telegram, and also to make payments via Bizum from Whatsapp or any messaging service.”
You’ll get a kick out of this: Qualcomm patents the ‘Internet of Shoes’
You’ll get a kick out of this: Qualcomm patents the ‘Internet of Shoes’ — The Register — “Qualcomm sees the shoes not only logging steps and helping navigation, but also monitoring the user’s gait, using the vibration motors to tell users when they should speed up their pace, and tracking both blood pressure and heart rate.”
CTBC aims to be one of first banks to provide Android Pay services
CTBC aims to be one of first banks to provide Android Pay services — Focus Taiwan — “CTBC Bank is among the Taiwanese banks gearing up to provide Android Pay services, which could be launched in the local market in June. Other candidates for the new service include First Commercial Bank and Bank SinoPac.”
How Coca-Cola is using smartphone data to personalise in-store ads
How Coca-Cola is using smartphone data to personalise in-store ads — Econsultancy — “The data includes anything from your basic gender or age demographic to previous browsing history. So, an ad could change from Coke Zero to Glacéau Smartwater if it recognises a preference for healthier products… Coca-Cola’s endcaps also involve communicating wirelessly with devices to send tailored offers or coupons.”