Consumers living in remote parts of rural Sweden where conventional stores and supermarkets have closed down can now use their mobile phones to buy goods 24 hours a day at automated, unmanned grocery stores operated by Swedish retail start-up Lifvs... More
Archive for September 2020
Bermuda trials digital stimulus token to distribute financial aid to citizens’ mobile phones
Residents and retailers in Bermuda are taking part in a pilot to test the viability of a “digital stimulus token”, which the Bermudan Government hopes to use to distribute financial aid more efficiently and to facilitate the purchase of food and other essential items during and beyond the Covid-19 pandemic... More
LA Metro lets passengers add TAP transit cards to Apple Wallet
Public transport users in Los Angeles in the US can now add their TAP transit card to their iPhone or Apple Watch, enabling them to pay their fares on the LA Metro and 25 other TAP-supporting transit agencies across LA County simply by holding their device near a TAP reader... More
Austin lets drivers pay for parking through Google Maps
Motorists in Austin, Texas, in the US, can now use Google Pay to make payments for parking directly from Google Maps, removing the need for them to use a physical parking meter or ticketing machine or download a parking payment app... More
Vipps signs deal with Visa to make its mobile wallet platform available to card issuers across Europe
Visa’s client banks and card issuers across Europe will be able to use a platform developed by Norwegian payments app Vipps to launch their own mobile wallets, following a strategic partnership deal signed by the two companies... More
Metrolinx adds mobile ticketing option for occasional public transport users in the Greater Toronto area
Visitors to Canada’s Greater Toronto area and other occasional users of Metrolinx’s Durham Region Transit (DRT) and Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) buses can now purchase, store and activate tickets on their smartphone without having to use cash or buy a Presto transit card as part of a project to give passengers more contactless and mobile payment options across the agency’s transit networks... More
NPCI creates new company to take India’s UPI and RuPay global
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced the launch of subsidiary firm NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) with the aim of exporting its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) real-time mobile payments service and RuPay domestic payment card scheme to global markets... More
Google Pay tests NFC card payments in India
Google Pay has begun testing tokenized NFC-based credit and debit card payments in India, enabling users of supported cards to add them to their payment options for NFC, QR and online payments... More
Giant Eagle installs checkout-free technology at GetGo Café+Market store
US supermarket chain Giant Eagle has installed checkout-free technology at a GetGo Café+Market store in the Greater Pittsburgh area, enabling customers to simply walk into the store, select the items they wish to purchase and checkout via their mobile phone... More
GlobalPlatform releases secure customer authentication specification
GlobalPlatform has released a new specification designed to simplify the integration of strong customer authentication (SCA) for payments, banking, transport and identity applications... More
Amazon lets drivers use Alexa to pay at the pump with their voice
Drivers can now use Alexa to pay for their fuel using just a voice command at any of more than 11,500 Exxon and Mobil stations across the US... More
Washington Metro lets passengers add SmarTrip transit cards to Apple Wallet
Public transport users in Washington, DC, in the US can now add their SmarTrip card to their iPhone or Apple Watch, “giving transit customers a safer, faster, more convenient way to pay”... More
Octopus to launch new transit card that works in mainland China?
Users of Octopus transit cards in Hong Kong could soon be able to pay for public transport fares in mainland China, with the ability to make payments for purchases at stores across the country to follow, the company’s outgoing CEO has told the South China Morning Post... More
ABI forecasts $7.2bn market for wearable payment devices
The market for payment-enabled wearable devices will reach US$7.2bn in 2024, “driven by a surge in contactless payment adoption, as a result of growing usage of contactless cards and near field communication (NFC)-enabled mobile payments,” ABI Research predicts.... More