Happy holidays from the NFC World team
NFC World is taking a short break for the festive season... More
Archive for December 2017
Ikea calls for innovative ‘digital communication carrier’ solutions
Ikea Open Innovation Challenge in printed electronics — Printed Electronics World — “Ikea has invited a selection of companies to propose innovative ideas and technologies aiming at e-labels and/or digital communication carriers… The communication carriers are media conveying information, analog today, attached to Ikea products or as in-store communication.”
Visa reports 66% drop in fraud at US merchants equipped to accept chip cards
Counterfeit fraud at US chip-enabled merchants down 66% — Visa — “With EMV chip transactions continuing to grow in the US, counterfeit fraud volume decreased 66% at chip-enabled merchants in June 2017 compared to June 2015. US financial institutions have issued 462m chip cards to consumers, and 2.5m, or 55% of US storefronts, accept chip cards.”
Australian transit authority uses open APIs to expand ticketing network to private operators
Transport for New South Wales opens up its Opal payments system to privately-operated transport services — Open Gov Asia — “Open APIs allow other companies using their own terminals and equipment to connect to the Opal payments system. This allows them to simplify their operations, reduce operating costs and provide a quick and convenient way for commuters to pay for travel across a range of transportation modes.”
UK banks to begin rollout of world’s first standardised open banking system
UK’s Open Banking to launch on 13 January 2018 — Open Banking — “The UK is the first nation to implement a standardised open banking solution. In the UK we are creating a single technology standard enabling new services to be easily built and offered to consumers and small businesses… The first set of Open Banking APIs will go live to third party providers on 13 January.”
JD.com to deliver online orders direct to Chinese consumers’ cars
JD.com, electric car maker Nio partner on ecommerce delivery-to-vehicle service — Marbridge Daily — “JD.com’s self-operated logistics service JD Logistics and Nio are in the process of connecting their systems so that consumers will be able to select ‘delivery to vehicle’ when purchasing goods through JD.com. Using the vehicle’s location, an authorized delivery agent will deliver the package within a given time window to the recipient’s trunk, which will be accessed via keyless entry.”
Dutch supermarket chain uses NFC shelf edge labels to let customers self-checkout and pay
Albert Heijn testing ‘tap to go’ technology — Ahold Delhaize — “The technology, which is being piloted at the AH To Go store at Ahold Delhaize’s support office in Zaandam, provides customers with a fast, efficient shopping experience by using a card or, in the near future, a smartphone. After registering via an app, customers can select an item, tap an electronic shelf card, and go. Within 10 minutes, the money will be automatically transferred from their bank account.”
Burger bar to let customers order and pay by face in California
Cali Group demonstrates face based loyalty program pilot in its restaurant operating division — Cali Group — “The kiosks use NEC’s NeoFace facial recognition software to identify registered customers and pull up their loyalty accounts and order preferences… Also in 2018, the platform will be used to allow customers to pay using their faces.”
GM drivers can now order and pay for goods and services from their car
GM lets customers order their morning coffee with their car — General Motors — “Drivers can now order and pay for their favourite coffee — and much more — on the way to work with a simple tap on the dash… Marketplace gives drivers of eligible Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles the opportunity to more safely interact with a growing number of their favourite brands in retail, fuel, hospitality, food, hotel and transportation through the in-vehicle touchscreen. Marketplace also features a “Shop” section dedicated to offers specific to GM vehicles.”
Chinese ride hailing giant Didi Chuxing enters the payments market
Didi Chuxing picks up a payment license — Caixin — “Didi Chuxing, China’s largest ride-hailing company, is speeding into the payments business, acquiring a much-coveted license to join the red-hot internet financial-services arena. Didi has agreed to fully acquire third-party payment-services provider 19Pay for 300m yuan (US$45.4m)… Last year, the PBOC said it would control the number of third-party payment licenses issued, making it increasingly difficult to get a license.”
Estonia announces plans to introduce digital Estcoins
We’re planning to launch estcoin — and that’s only the start — e-Residency — “We have identified not one, but three variants of estcoin that would benefit both our digital nation and those who use them. All three of these models of estcoin are viable and can be introduced (even without alarming the European Central Bank).”
China’s JD.com to open hundreds of unmanned convenience stores
Chinese online retailer JD plans to open hundreds of unmanned shops, ahead of Amazon — The Telegraph — “Chinese online retailer JD.com has beaten Amazon to the next stage of the shopping revolution by announcing plans to open hundreds of ‘unmanned’ convenience stores. The shops have already been trialled with JD’s 10,000 employees at headquarters in Beijing and use facial and recognition technology to register payment and product identity, meaning that customers do not have to wait in a checkout line.”
Chase offers 5% cash back on payments made with mobile wallets
Chase Freedom adds new mobile wallets category to 5% cash back rewards for first quarter — Chase — “Cardmembers can earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in quarterly categories during the first three months of 2018, including purchases they make with the card in four mobile wallets. For the first time ever, cardmembers will earn the extra rewards through this new offer when using the following mobile wallets: Chase Pay, Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay.”
Safaricom adds NFC payments to M-Pesa mobile money service
Christmas comes early for Safaricom’s mobile app as it receives the much awaited “big” update — Android Kenya — “Safaricom’s mobile application, dubbed mySafaricom, is receiving a huge update… Smartphones with NFC (Near Field Communication) technology should be in a position to transact using M-Pesa 1 Tap, the latest upgrade to M-Pesa that lets users pay for items at retail outlets and elsewhere via a single ‘tap’, much like Android Pay and Samsung Pay are used for in the markets where they are available.”
Calling all payment, card and secure credential technology suppliers
2018 is set to be a pivotal year for banks, card issuers and secure credential providers around the world as new market entrants, regulatory environments and technical innovations place increasing pressure on traditional banking and card issuing business models... More
US survey finds growing support for biometrics as a replacement for passwords and PINs
Visa survey reveals consumers are ready to say goodbye to passwords — Visa — “Seventy percent of respondents find biometrics easier than passwords and 61% consider it faster. Fewer than a third of consumers use unique passwords for each of their accounts. Fifty percent of consumers responded that the top benefit of using biometrics is eliminating the need to remember multiple passwords or PINs, followed by 46% who said that biometrics is more secure than passwords or PINs for verifying identity.”
Samsung and LG to launch low-end smartphones that support their mobile payment services
Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics to introduce their new low-end smartphones at CES 2018 — ETNews — “Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are going to introduce their new low-end smartphones at CES 2018… Galaxy A8 series are installed with Samsung Pay and fingerprint recognition…. K series are installed with a mobile payment system called LG Pay that is applied to premium smartphones such as G and V series. This is the first time when LG Electronics’ low-end lineup is applied with LG Pay.”
Gemalto agrees to be acquired by Thales
Thales and Gemalto create a world leader in digital security — Gemalto — “Thales and Gemalto announce today that they have reached an agreement on a recommended all-cash offer for all issued and outstanding ordinary shares of Gemalto… The Gemalto board has decided to unanimously support the transaction and recommend that Gemalto’s shareholders accept the offer and vote in favour of the resolutions relating to the offer at the upcoming extraordinary general meeting.”
Rambus forecasts omnichannel tokenization and ‘merchant pay’ as key trends for 2018
PARTNER NEWS: 2018 will see the emergence of omnichannel tokenization, a wealth of new payment use-cases such as connected cars, and the rise of ‘merchant pay’ — retailer issued mobile wallets — according to Rambus... More
Australia’s central bank explores the issue of electronic banknotes
An eAUD? — Reserve Bank of Australia — “An electronic form of banknotes could coexist with the electronic payment systems operated by the banks, although the case for this new form of money is not yet established… The issuing authority could issue electronic currency in the form of files or ‘tokens’. These tokens could be stored in digital wallets, provided by financial institutions and others. These tokens could then be used for payments in a similar way that physical banknotes are used today.”