The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) is to spend an additional US$212.1m on its new transit ticketing infrastructure, to enable support for a range of new options including the ability to integrate ferry and local rail services and to charge riders different fares depending on the time of day they travel... More
Central banks in the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait have all increased the contactless transaction limits in their country, in a bid to combat the spread of Covid-19... More
JCB has launched Tap on Mobile, a contactless payments acceptance solution that uses off-the-shelf Android NFC devices to enable its acquirers to offer “a cost-effective payment solution to their merchants”... More
Westpac switches on Apple Pay for customers — Westpac — “Apple Pay is now available for Westpac customers with an eligible Mastercard debit or credit card, or eftpos Handycard… Debit card holders can now choose the payment option linked to their card when they pay with Apple Pay, including ‘Mastercard Debit’, ‘eftpos CHQ’ and ‘eftpos SAV’.”
LG CNS is piloting a new payments solution that combines face recognition, a blockchain-based digital currency and AI technology to let shoppers enter an unmanned store, shop and check out — without needing to come into close contact with either employees or POS equipment... More
The increase in the UK contactless transaction limit from £30 (US$37.50) to £45 (US$56.25) has resulted in 43% of in-store transactions valued at between £30 and £45 now being made via contactless payments, Barclaycard reports... More
Impact of Covid-19 on spending behaviour revealed as more Irish consumers using contactless and digital wallets — AIB — “Digital wallet (Apple Pay and Google Pay) spend now accounts for 37% of all in-store transactions by those who are under 25… Contactless using a debit card is the most popular choice of in-store payment method among all age cohorts, except those under 25 where it accounts for 28% of spend.”
Kakao Pay and AlipayHK to become available at PayPay merchants from April 27, 2020 — PayPay — “Users of code payment services Kakao Pay and AlipayHK, in addition to Alipay, will be able to complete payments using QR codes provided by PayPay merchants anywhere in Japan as of the 27th of April.”
Joint industry letter on SCA delay due to Covid-19 — European Payment Institutions Federation — “It is now clear that the Covid-19 crisis has significantly reduced the capacity available to progress SCA development and implementation… The signatories therefore call on the European Commission and the EBA to consider appropriate additional measures and coordination to assist in the smooth transition to SCA in all EU Member States equally. In the light of Covid-19, this should also include the possibility of an at least additional six months for the market to be fully SCA ready.”
Uralkali introduces mobile inspection system for process equipment — World Fertilizer Magazine — “The technology recognises electronic NFC (near field communication) tags on the production equipment and the inspection data is transmitted from smartphones to the database via WiFi… The technology was piloted at the Berezniki-4 plant in Russia’s Perm region, and the system is now being introduced across all of the company’s plants.”
Starbucks, McDonald’s among 19 firms to test China’s digital yuan — Coindesk — “Starbucks and McDonald’s are reportedly among 19 restaurants and retail shops that will be involved in testing China’s central bank digital currency in the country’s Xiong’An new district, a local news outlet reported on Thursday, citing a government document. The move signals China’s wider efforts to test the digital currency project, with state-owned commercial banks already developing wallet applications for the digital yuan, also known as DC/EP.”
Kenya’s National Transport and Safety Authority has issued a tender for a new vehicle identification system that will combine hybrid NFC/RFID windscreen stickers with a mobile app running on standard NFC smartphones to provide police and other agencies with “quick and reliable information on vehicles and their corresponding owner”... More
Internal closed pilot tests of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) developed by the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) are to be conducted in Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiong’an New District, Chengdu, and at Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics locations, China’s central bank has revealed... More
Facebook-backed Libra cryptocurrency project is scaled back — The New York Times — “The Libra project will now focus on creating a more traditional payment network in which coins will be tied to a local currency, somewhat like the digital dollars in a PayPal account. While Libra will also have a coin backed by multiple national currencies, which was the focus of the initial design documents, that will be less prominent.”
Leaked screenshots of a new Google Pay debit card, to be issued by banks partnering with the search engine giant for its planned move into the US banking market, include mention of an option to use a digital version of the card “for Bluetooth mobile payments”... More
The contactless transaction limit in France will be increased from €30 to €50 from 11 May, the date set by the French government for the country’s strict coronavirus lockdown to begin to be lifted... More
KNOWLEDGE CENTRE: Convenience, consumer choice, and the ability to use contactless payments for public transportation hold the key to driving the mass market adoption of wearable payments in urban environments, Timex, Mastercard and Tappy explain in a panel discussion which is now available to watch free of charge in the NFCW Knowledge Centre... More
The government of Macau is stimulating the local economy by distributing contactless smartcards to residents that come pre-loaded with a credit of 3,000 patacas (US$377.43) that must be spent in local stores by the end of July... More
Commuters in 275 Chinese cities can now add their T-Union public transportation card to their iPhone or Apple Watch and then use their smartphone or wearable to tap in and out of bus and subway services without the need to first validate the transaction using Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode... More
Digital wallet transactions grew 17% in March 2020, outpacing the average monthly compound growth rate of 6.7% over the past six months, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) reports... More