Thinfilm and GlaxoSmithKline bring NFC technology to leading over-the-counter brand Flonase — Thinfilm — “GSK introduced interactive ‘smart’ Flonase shelves in retail stores across Canada in an effort to educate consumers about the new product and guide them in their purchasing decision… The cloud-based platform integrates with the NFC hardware, enabling GSK to manage tags remotely, deliver custom messaging and content, view real-time consumer tapping activity, and develop valuable consumer insights through built-in analytics functionality.”
Archive for October 2017
Sberbank lets customers pay via Telegram messaging bots
Sberbank and Telegram create unique payment solution — Sberbank — “The solution allows payments to be accepted from MasterCard, Visa and Mir bank cards. In addition, in a first for Russia, it is now possible to pay using Apple Pay and Android Pay within Telegram bots. This means that now Sberbank partners can easily accept payments as well as orders via Telegram bots.”
Australian banks to offer real-time payments
Real-time payments to be launched after Australia Day — The Sydney Morning Herald — “The A$1bn project, triggered by a 2012 review of Australia’s payment infrastructure, will mean customers of different banks will be able to make and receive real-time payments, 24 hours a day and seven days a week… It will also allow consumers to arrange payments using their ‘PayID,’ such as a mobile phone number, instead of an account number or BSB. Customers will also be able to include 280 characters of text with a payment, up from 18 now.”
Japanese bank demos blockchain payment solution
Japan’s big banks showcase fintech at Ceatec show — Nikkei Asian Review — “A smartphone app lets users buy MUFG Coin with yen from their bank accounts and send the digital currency to others. Remittance costs are kept low thanks to blockchain, the distributed ledger technology that underpins bitcoin. With MUFG Coin, wiring amounts of money too small to be practical under typical bank fees becomes possible, according to the lender.”
Shake Shack to open cashless kiosk in New York
Shake Shack to open cashless, kiosk-only location in New York City — CNBC — “Located in Astor Place, this Shake Shack won’t have a cashier’s counter. Instead, guests will use digital kiosks or their mobile phones to place orders. Manning these kiosks will be “hospitality champs,” Shake Shack employees who specialize in making customers’ time in the restaurant as seamless and enjoyable as possible.”
Google drops NFC Smart Unlock due to ‘extremely low usage’
Google reveals why it killed NFC Smart Lock in Android — BetaNews — “It recently came to light that Google had killed off NFC Smart Lock in Android — without telling anyone. Now the company has come clean about just why the feature was given the chop. Google says that ‘in the case of NFC unlock, we’ve seen extremely low usage,’ adding that there are now many more ways of unlocking Android devices. But while Google points to features such as on-body detection, fingerprint scanning and Trusted Places, fans of the missing feature say that none of these are comparable.”