Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba has unveiled Mashang Tao, a new platform that lets brands and merchants create QR codes that can be used to make purchases in stores, online and from printed advertisements, as well as provide a range of value-added services to consumers... More
Author archive:
Barclaycard to introduce contactless payment wristbands
Barclaycard is to make contactless payment wristbands available to anyone with a UK bank account or credit card next year... More
Charity raises funds via NFC wristbands
Special care baby charity Bliss is using NFC wristbands to make it easier for supporters to generate donations from people they meet... More
Nintendo unveils Amiibo NFC figures that work with multiple Wii U and 3DS games
Nintendo has unveiled a new product category called Amiibo at this year’s E3 digital event in Los Angeles... More
Toys ‘R’ Us reports on Isis transactions
Toy retailing giant Toys ‘R’ Us has revealed it has seen 23,000 individual transactions conducted using Isis in the three months since it began accepting the NFC payments service... More
Digicash raises €2.2m to expand NFC, QR and BLE payments platform
Luxembourg-based Digicash Payments has raised €2.2m to expand its mobile payments platform on a “national and on an international level.” The service supports transactions via NFC, QR and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and has been adopted by four local banks... More
Hawaii gets iBeacon happy hours
Happy Hour Pal, a Honolulu-based startup that lets businesses promote special offers to users of its mobile app, is using Bluetooth LE beacons and Apple’s iBeacon service to push happy hour offers to consumers, Pacific Business News reports... More
NICE rolls out Masabi mobile ticketing and payments in Nassau County
Veolia Transportation is rolling out a mobile ticketing and payment service on the NICE bus and paratransit system in New York’s Nassau County, in partnership with mobile ticketing and payment provider Masabi... More
App that turns off debit cards sees massive usage surge after Target breach
Usage of mobile banking technology provider Malauzai Software’s debit card on/off service, which allows customers of its financial institution clients to use their mobile phone to activate and deactivate their debit card on the go, has increased 850% in the last six months, the company reports... More
iOS 8 to “read” credit cards
Apple has included a new feature in iOS 8 that will allow shoppers to enter their payment details on an mcommerce site by simply scanning their credit card with the camera on their mobile device, 9to5Mac reports... More
Square adds invoices
Square has added invoicing to its Register service, allowing sellers to “get paid fast with free unlimited invoices and no monthly service fee”... More
South Shore Line introduces mobile ticketing for Chicago commuters
Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) has partnered with mobile ticketing provider Bytemark to provide travellers on the South Shore Line with a way to purchase and store train tickets on their mobile device... More
Edgetech to offer acoustic mobile payments in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe-based banking solutions provider Edgetech Solutions is preparing to launch a new mobile payment service that uses sound-based communication technology from NearBytes to let people make payments in stores with their phones... More
Starbucks Korea lets customers place orders with their mobile phone, more countries to follow
Starbucks customers in South Korea have become the first to be able to place their order at the coffee shop chain using their mobile phone... More
Top London shopping street installs beacons in 100 stores
One hundred retailers with stores on London’s upmarket Regent Street, one of the city’s busiest shopping locations, have installed Bluetooth Low Energy beacons that trigger personalized offers and communications for shoppers who have downloaded a mobile app developed by landowner The Crown Estate... More
Tesco-backed coffee chain Harris+Hoole introduces mobile payments
Tesco-backed coffee chain Harris+Hoole has updated its mobile app to enable customers to order and pay at any of its 36 outlets without having to touch, tap or scan at a counter... More
French retailer uses PowaTag to create 10,000 virtual shops, major UK chains to follow
French fashion retailer Comptoir des Cotonniers is using a platform developed by Powa Technologies to turn posters, billboards, magazines, cafe table tops, postcards, flyers and clothing into ‘virtual boutiques’ that let consumers order and pay for goods with their mobile phone... More
Alfa-Bank uses activity trackers to offer higher interest rates to customers who exercise
Russia’s Alfa-Bank has introduced a new savings account linked to an activity tracker, which rewards customers who exercise more with a higher interest rate... More
Bitcoin gets Facebook transfers
US startup QuickCoin is making it possible for Facebook users to send Bitcoins to friends from within the social networking platform... More
Meadowhall shopping centre provides special offers via Bluetooth LE
Meadowhall Shopping Centre in Sheffield, UK is to use iBeacon technology to gamify a shopping event, with brands providing offers, discounts, pampering freebies and prize giveaways. Participating retailers include Krispy Kreme, Hotel Chocolat, Cath Kidston and House of Fraser. More