Apple is to charge participating banks a 0.2% transaction fee when its Apple Pay service launches in Slovakia later this year, according to local newspaper Hospodárske Noviny... More
Apple Pay to charge Slovak banks 0.2% transaction fee
Archive for March 2019
NatWest Bank to trial contactless biometric card
NatWest Bank is to run a trial of fingerprint-on-card authentication allowing a cardholder to make contactless payments above the current level of £30... More
Alibaba hotel unveils face recognition room entry
Chinese technology and retail group Alibaba has opened a hotel which uses the facial recognition biometric to secure guests’ rooms and the lifts... More
India to include NFC option in digital driving licences
Traffic violators beware, new driving licences, registration certificates coming from October — The Times of India — “The new DLs [driving licences] and RCs [vehicle registration certificates] will have a QR code that can be read by hand-held devices to access the past records of the driver or the vehicle from the central online database… ‘Though there was a proposal to make the chip and NFC feature mandatory, the Centre decided to leave the option to the state governments,’ said an official.”
Older US consumers warm to bank-led P2P payments
Make room Millennials, Zelle study finds Generation X and Boomers driving broader adoption of person-to-person (P2P) payments — Early Warning Services — “52% of Generation X and 46% of Boomer respondents said that they ‘trust’ P2P payments, and are interested in using available solutions. 76% of Generation X and 74% of Boomers surveyed ranked ‘offered through a financial institution they use’ as a top reason to trial P2P payments.”
Russia’s Mir domestic payments system adds support for NFC payments
National Payment Card System (NSPK), operator of Russia’s Mir domestic payments network, has begun rolling out support for Android NFC mobile payments... More
Australian F1 Grand Prix wheels out wearable payments
Wearable-only payments are being introduced at three of the bars at Melbourne’s Albert Park race track for this year’s Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix, with plans to expand the service to the entire event in subsequent years... More
Android to add support for NFC passports and driving licences
Google is to introduce an IdentityCredential API that will enable Android users to securely store identity documents such as driving licences and, ultimately, passports on their NFC mobile phone... More
MegaFon adds loans to its mobile banking app
MegaFon is working with Mastercard to develop a full service financial marketplace for its mobile network subscribers in Russia... More
ST explores the role of NFC in cars
Q&A: The present and future of NFC in cars with ST — ST Microelectronics — PARTNER NEWS — “A couple of years ago, engineers needed to convince decision makers to use NFC in vehicles. Then Mercedes adopted our ST25R reader in their E-Class models. Now, decision makers want a reader because keyless entry and smartphone pairing are all the rage.”
Sam’s Club to make it easier for shoppers to add products to Scan & Go mobile self-checkout basket
Sam’s Club files patent for next-level Scan & Go test — Sam’s Club — “With the upcoming test, we’ll enhance the experience with the launch of a technology using computer vision and machine learning. Rather than having to locate the barcode and scan it just right, the camera in the app will identify the product with a simple hover and add it to the member’s shopping list.”
Singapore to roll out open loop payments on public transportation
New SimplyGo system to let bank cards double up as public transport travel cards — The Straits Times — “Commuters with Mastercard contactless bank cards can use it to pay for public transport rides under a new system to be launched on 4 April 2019. The SimplyGo platform will do away with the need to top up stored-value cards, with fares for rides reflected in commuters’ credit or debit card bills, just like their retail purchases. Visa card holders will get the same convenience later this year.”
Barclays to roll its wearable payments service into its Pingit mobile payment app
Barclays has announced plans to roll its bPay prepaid wearable payments offering into its Pingit mobile payments app, “giving 3.6m users access to simple ways to pay on the go”... More
India rolls out national transit card system
India is launching a single card which can be used to pay for travel on all transportation systems across the country... More
Hyundai replaces car keys with smartphone app and NFC
Hyundai Motor Group is enabling drivers to access their car and start the engine using a smartphone app and NFC instead of a physical key... More
MWC: Wearable Payment Summit slides now available to download
Presentations from the Wearable Payment Summit at MWC Barcelona 2019 are now available to download from the NFC World Knowledge Centre... More
NFC Forum bridges the gap between QR mobile payments services and NFC devices
The NFC Forum has released a new candidate specification that makes it easy for mobile payments services based on QR codes to add NFC functionality, giving “payment service providers and consumers the opportunity to take advantage of the simple and secure NFC-based payment solutions already in use worldwide.”... More
KFC launches digital receipts and automatic loyalty points for customers
Customers of KFC will be sent a digital version of their receipt when they pay with certain bank cards following a tie-up between the fast food chain in the UK and Flux... More
W3C adopts password-free login standard
W3C approves WebAuthn as the web standard for password-free logins — VentureBeat — “The specification lets users log into online accounts using biometrics, mobile devices, and/or Fido security keys. WebAuthn is supported by Android and Windows 10. On the browser side, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge all added support last year. Apple has supported WebAuthn in preview versions of Safari since December.”
GSMA reports 20% increase in mobile money users around the world
GSMA report highlights 20% annual increase in mobile money accounts to more than 866m worldwide — GSMA — “At the end of 2018, there were more than 866m registered accounts in 90 countries — a 20% increase on 2017. The report also shows that the mobile money industry processed transactions worth US$1.3bn a day in 2018, with digital transaction values growing at more than twice the rate of cash transactions.”