Paytm is testing face recognition tool for payments — Economic Times — “Paytm has begun testing a facial recognition tool that can unlock its payments application on a customer’s smartphone, company executives said. It also plans to extend this feature to allow customers to pay at merchant outlets with the blink of an eye… Paytm is testing the facial recognition feature on Google’s Android platform, and according to sources, will shortly roll it out through an app update. Offline payments through face recognition, however, would take longer, they said.”
Archive for September 2018
Huami includes NFC for travelcards, payments and access control in $116 budget smartwatch
Huami announces launch of new Amazfit Verge smartwatch — Huami — “Digital wallet functionality in conjunction with UnionPay and Alipay, combined with integrated one-touch public transportation payment in over 160 cities in China, [helps] users capture the convenience of full digital transactions (through NFC and QR codes). The Verge can be also used as entrance access device utilising NFC technology.”
Google Pay closes payments data sharing loophole
Google tweaks privacy policy for Indian payment app after rival complaint — Reuters — “Google has tweaked the privacy policy of its Indian digital payments mobile application, days after local rival Paytm complained that the US tech giant’s platform allowed disclosure of customer data for advertising and other purposes… Google Pay’s privacy policy had said it could ‘collect, store, use and/or disclose’ personal data and ‘any communications made through Google Pay’. A Reuters review of Google’s privacy policy that was updated on Thursday showed the company had dropped the word ‘disclose’ from its privacy clause.”
Contactless collection boxes deliver five-fold increase in donations for London charity
Earnest Labs reveals results of contactless charity donation platform Tap for Change — The Drum — “Tap For Change has transformed our fundraising… It would take years to raise the same amount from people emptying their pockets of loose change, and it would require a logistical army to collect and bank those donations. The technology has also allowed us to successfully approach high street partners where customers don’t handle cash, such as travel agents and estate agents. Those partners would have previously been reluctant to host a coin collection box.”
Google Pay goes live in Italy
Google Pay has arrived — Google Blog Italia (translation) — “Simply add a credit, debit or prepaid card (Maestro, MasterCard, Visa) issued by any of the supported banks and credit institutions to the Google Pay app — including Banca Mediolanum, Boon, Hype, Nexi, N26, Revolut, Widiba and, in the coming months, Iccrea Banca and Poste Italiane — to turn your Android smartphone into a wallet. Users can also activate the service directly in the mobile banking app of their bank.”
Pulse reports on US uptake of mobile debit card payments
2018 Debit Issuer Study finds improved issuer performance, lower fraud losses — Pulse — “86% of responding issuers support at least one mobile payment option, up from 74% in the previous study… Cardholder enrollment in mobile programs doubled in the last year. However, transactions initiated with a mobile wallet represented only 0.6% of in-store debit card purchases in 2017, compared to 0.3% in 2016.”
Bank of America brings mobile payments to business card customers
BofA Merrill introduces mobile wallets for business cardholders — Bank of America — “The millions of Bank of America Merrill Lynch cardholders who use our corporate, commercial and purchasing cards in the United States are now able to use Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay to make business purchases.”
OP Financial tests face recognition for payments in stores
OP Financial Group first in Finland to pilot facial recognition payments — OP Financial Group — “The technology compares the customer’s face to a face map captured on camera. After the customer’s face has been identified, the payment itself is simple: no mobile phone, payment card, cash or other traditional payment method will be needed.”
Singapore begins rollout of QR code that works with multiple mobile payment schemes
Singapore introduces world’s first unified payment QR code — SGQR — Monetary Authority of Singapore — “The first of its kind globally, SGQR combines multiple payment QR codes into a single SGQR label, making QR code-based mobile payments simple for both consumers and merchants. SGQR will be adopted by 27 payment schemes including PayNow, NETS, GrabPay, Liquid Pay and Singtel Dash, and will be deployed progressively over the next six months.”
Apple adds support for Express Card NFC transactions that work even when an iPhone’s battery is almost flat
Apple’s just-published iOS 12 security guide has revealed a new feature which will see owners of the latest iPhones able to conduct some NFC transactions even when the device has all but shut down because the battery needs to be charged... More
Apple updates Core NFC to allow NFC tags to be read without opening an app
Apple’s new iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR will be able to take advantage of an update to the company’s Core NFC specification to read NFC tags without the user first having to open an app, Apple has revealed... More
Rambus gets Visa Ready certification for its ecommerce token gateway
PARTNER NEWS: Online merchants, payment service providers and acquirers can now use the Rambus Token Gateway to tokenize card-on-file ecommerce transactions, enabling sensitive cardholder payment data to be replaced with secure tokens and removing the need for consumers to update their card details following a card reissue... More
Mobile contactless payment volumes to rise by 30% a year to 2022
451 Research’s Global Unified Commerce Forecast uncovers dramatic shifts in consumer spending patterns — 451 Research — “Mobile contactless payments will surpass $1 trillion globally in 2022. Sales executed via mobile contactless payment methods such as Apple Pay and Google Pay are growing at an impressive 30.7% CAGR through 2022. However, they will account for just 1.4% of global brick and mortar retail sales this year and reach only 3.8% by 2022.”
French football club to launch its own cryptocurrency
Paris Saint-Germain becomes first football club in the world to announce long term cryptocurrency strategy — Paris Saint-Germain — “Socios.com will work alongside the club to develop the world’s first Fan Token Offering (FTO) for the Paris Saint-Germain fanbase. The Paris Saint-Germain fan token will be listed on the Socios.com platform and will allow fans to engage with the club through mobile voting and polling platforms. Token owners will also be granted access to exclusive fan rewards, content and experiences.”
The Conran Shop and Pinterest deploy NFC tags that let shoppers add products to wishlists
The Conran Shop and Pinterest collaborate to create an immersive and personalised shopping experience — Pinterest — “Customers will also be able to use their smartphones to explore the products and activate unique digital experiences via integrated near-field communication (NFC) technology. The NFC tags, powered by printed-electronics specialist, Thinfilm, are activated by tapping a smartphone on a featured hero product, which will automatically be added to a bespoke ‘Conran Wishlist’ on the customer’s personal Pinterest board.”
UnionPay rolls out its mobile payments app to cardholders in Hong Kong and Macau
UnionPay International launches the UnionPay app in Hong Kong and Macau to enhance the local customers’ mobile payment experience — UnionPay International — “From today, consumers in Hong Kong and Macau can bind their locally issued UnionPay cards to the UnionPay app and enjoy mobile payment service both in and outside Hong Kong and Macau… So far, UnionPay is accepted at almost all ATMs and POS terminals in Hong Kong and Macau, and a total of about 19m UnionPay cards are issued in Hong Kong and Macau.”
Skanska deploys mobile keys at new headquarters in Warsaw
HID Global helps create an integrated mobile experience and enhances security at the new Skanska office complex in Warsaw — HID Global — PARTNER NEWS — “Spark building employees and their guests can now move throughout the building with nothing more than a smartphone, without the risk of them gaining access to restricted areas — unless the proper access rights are granted. When users arrive at the door, they simply tap their iOS and Android devices to an iClass SE reader using near field communications (NFC) or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and HID’s ‘twist and go’ feature to gain access from a distance. Any changes to the user’s access rights are remotely managed by the administrator through a cloud-based portal.”
Xiaomi to ship $29 fitness tracker with support for Mi Pay NFC payments
Xiaomi Mi Band 3 NFC version to go on sale on September 19; Total wearable sales exceed 50m — Gizmochina — “The company has officially confirmed that it will begin the sales of the Mi Band 3 NFC edition starting from Sept 19 with a price tag of 199 Yuan (US$29 approx)… Apart from supporting contactless payment POS terminals enabled with NFC, the Mi Band 3 NFC version will support city bus card payments in [as] many as 167 cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Suzhou, Hefei, Xi’an, and Jilin among others in China.”
San Francisco transit operators to deploy NFC ticketing
Cubic chosen as preferred provider by Metropolitan Transportation Commission for contract to deliver next-gen fare payment system — Cubic — “The next-generation system will include new features including an integrated mobile app that will support a virtual Clipper card, enabling customers to access real-time information, top up their accounts, plan trips and tap their phones through faregates and on buses in much the same way as mobile payments can be made at retailers.”
Survey: Merchants are winning the US mobile wallet adoption battle
Merchants winning the battle for mobile wallet supremacy — Javelin Strategy & Research — “In the rush to market, the main wallet value proposition, paying at the POS, wasn’t particularly compelling. In reality, loyalty and rewards will drive adoption, something merchants are doing particularly well,” said Krista Tedder, director of payments at Javelin Strategy & Research.”