Razer Pay launches in Malaysia — Razer — “Razer Pay is the e-wallet designed for youth and millennials… Over 6,000 major retail and F&B outlets will accept Razer Pay, with participating brands such as 7-Eleven, Starbucks, Singer, Cosway, Greyhound Café, Wendy’s, Kenny Rogers, Krispy Kreme, 99 Speedmart, Tealive, Thundermatch, Sweet Hut and more… Razer Pay will roll out in other Southeast Asian countries in the coming months.”
Archive for July 2018
Apple Pay signs up 200K in Poland in first two weeks?
Just two weeks after Apple’s NFC payment system was introduced in Poland, one commentator has set out data that points to the system having already signed up some 200,000 users... More
Moscow Metro adds loyalty program to Troika transit ticketing card
Public transport users in Moscow can now earn loyalty rewards as they travel and transact around the Russian capital... More
Milan’s transit operator rolls out contactless and mobile payments across the metro network
Travel on the metro by paying with your contactless card — Azienda Trasporti Milanesi — “The service is currently available on the entire metro network and your journey must begin in a metro station. You can also travel on the surface network until the ticket expires… Look for the orange and grey ticket gate in all metro stations, the card reader is at the top.”
Starbucks to roll out 100 cashless stores in Korea
Starbucks to increase number of cashless stores in Korea — Retail News Asia — “Starbucks Coffee Korea Co said Monday it will increase the number of cashless stores to over 100 across South Korea this month amid rising use of credit cards and mobile payment systems in the tech-savvy country… Starbucks said the decision is part of its broader digital innovation drive as cash payment has been constantly declining at stores in South Korea, from 31% of the total in 2010 to 15% in 2013 and 7% last year.”
Chinese mobile payments providers begin charging fees to users
Tencent’s WeChat widens service fee for users of ‘card repay’ feature in digital wallet — South China Morning Post — “In line with international practice, there are no free financial services. WeChat previously paid the credit card repayment fee for users, going forward the new fee chargeable to customers will support sustainable development [of the service],” said a Tencent spokesman in response to a request for comment.”
Chinese consumers have now deposited $150bn with Alipay and Tencent
PBOC to raise reserve funds ratio for third-party payment firms to 100% — Caixin — “The two largest third-party payment firms, Alipay and Tenpay, combined hold nearly 1tn yuan (US$151bn) of customers’ funds, about 90% of the total reserve funds… Reserve funds are prepayments from online shoppers held temporarily by payment companies that can then earn income on the cash by depositing it in banks or even buying government bonds… The requirement means payment firms such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd backed Alipay and Tencent Holdings Ltd’s Tenpay can no longer invest money deposited by their respective clients.”
300 German savings banks to roll out their own NFC mobile payments app at the end of July
Mobile payment: Sparkassen app to be available at the end of July — Heise Online (translation) — “A beta version is currently available in the Android Play Store. However, this only works with the accounts of selected savings banks whose employees and customers are putting the system through its paces. At the launch date at the end of July, around 300 savings banks will be there, a spokesman for the savings bank subsidiary S-Payment told Heise Online… Because the savings banks are following their own plans for mobile payment, their customers can not use their credit cards with Google Pay.”
Piraeus Bank picks Antelop as its mobile payments provider
PARTNER NEWS: Piraeus Bank, the largest card issuer in Greece, has selected Antelop Solutions as its long-term e-wallet and digital payments partner, enabling the bank to provide its customers with a large range of cutting edge mobile wallet and payments capabilities... More
Football fans use contactless for one in two transactions at World Cup stadiums
Visa data shows one fifth of purchases at 2018 Fifa World Cup use contactless technology — Visa — “Visa, the official payment services partner of Fifa, today released an analysis of foreign travellers’ spending during opening days of 2018 Fifa World Cup. The results found that in the 11 Russian host cities of the tournament, approximately one in every five (17%) purchases with Visa used contactless payment technology, including smartphones, bracelets and rings. In the stadiums themselves, the share of contactless payments was 54%, inclusive of purchases made by fans from Russia and abroad.”