Mobile student ID coming soon to Android devices — The Cluster — “Eight months after the launch of a mobile Bear Card for Apple devices, associate vice president for auxiliary services Ken Boyer said the digital credential will become available for Android devices in the second quarter of 2020… Boyer said 3,198 students, faculty and staff have enabled the digital ID since. The Office of Auxiliary Services anticipates that 2,500 more users will sign up once the Android option is available.”
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Visa CEO shares contactless, tokenization, transit and secure remote commerce adoption data
Data on the latest adoption rates for contactless transactions, tokenization, transit payments and secure remote commerce has been made available by Visa CEO Al Kelly — along with details of the revenue model to be used by Plaid, which Visa is to acquire for $5.3bn... More
Miami-Dade launches mobile ticketing app that rewards passengers for watching ads
The Miami-Dade Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW) has launched an app that lets passengers earn loyalty points that they can then exchange for free travel when they view or interact with personalised ads... More
IBM patents self-aware cryptocurrency token
IBM awarded patent for ‘self-aware token’ — Coindesk — “The patent outlines a ledger-based payments system that could make it easier for individual users, businesses and governments to track and trace transactions made using a cryptocurrency. Dubbed the ‘self-aware token’, it is designed to record all transaction data when not being used on a payments platform IBM patented in 2012. When the token rejoins the platform ecosystem at a later stage, it automatically uploads data from any ‘off-line transactions’.”
Digital bank replaces interest rates with reward points
Texas Capital Bank launches all-digital Bask Bank, offering savers American Airlines AAdvantage miles — Texas Capital Bank — “Traditional savings accounts return pennies on the dollar. Bask Bank changes that by rewarding savers with miles, enhancing their saving potential and providing them with choice, value, and the opportunity to experience travel and more through the AAdvantage program. Bask Bank will also offer several ways to earn AAdvantage bonus miles, including an account opening bonus of 5,000 AAdvantage miles, a feedback bonus and a variety of balance bonuses.”
Apple to launch Ultra Wideband item tracking tags?
Kuo: Apple to launch AirTags, small charging mat, new iPads and Macs, high-end headphones, and more in first half of 2020 — MacRumors — “Last year, MacRumors uncovered evidence of Apple working on Tile-like item tracking tags in iOS 13 code, including a potential ‘AirTags’ name. As with iPhone 11 models, Kuo believes the tags will support Ultra Wideband, which would likely make it possible to locate the tags with much greater accuracy than Bluetooth LE and WiFi.”
Cambodia to launch blockchain-based national QR payments platform
NBC’s digital payments to go live in next few months — The Phnom Penh Post — “The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) will launch a blockchain-based, peer-to-peer payment and money transfer platform in the next few months… Bakong, essentially a quasi-form of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), was launched on a trial basis in July and will be operational within the present fiscal quarter… Bakong will help set a national standard for QR code usage, which will be integrated with Asean equivalents.”
Mastercard rolls out Cash Pick-Up service that lets anyone send cash to ATMs
Mastercard wants to give you fast access to cash — using only your cell phone — CNBC — “Consumers can withdraw money sent by friends and family, get cash in emergency situations (in the event of a lost bank card, for example), and redeem rebates or other cash rewards that corporations have historically sent via mail… Users receive a text message with an order amount, secret code and link showing the nearest ATM from which they can withdraw money — up to US$500 per order and $3,000 a day.”
Payments Canada adds support for delayed debit card authorization
New Payments Canada rule enables wider use of digital debit payments — Payments Canada — “With delayed authorization, a merchant can now opt to provide a service before a payment transaction is authorized. In the example of a transit operator, this will support a passenger being able to pay and ride without having to wait for payments authorization. Beyond transit, Rule E5 is designed to enable other possible use cases, for example payment at parking meters, payment for on-board purchases (airline/train/ferry) and payment for vending machine purchases.”
Google to sunset Payment Request API
Rethinking Payment Request for iOS Chrome — Google — “The best way to enable more seamless and secure payments on the web is to enable an interoperable ecosystem, where digital wallets can bring their best experience to the web. This means shifting focus to the Payment Handler API, which is an emerging W3C standard that allows third party payment handlers, which can be either native mobile apps or progressive web apps, to integrate with the browser to handle Payment Requests… This shift in focus means that we will eventually sunset Chrome’s built-in ‘basic-card’ payment handler.”
World Economic Forum publishes central bank digital currency toolkit
The World Economic Forum has released a Policy-Maker Toolkit for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), designed “to help central banks evaluate, design and potentially deploy CBDC”... More
Transport for NSW reports on contactless ticketing adoption
Public transportation users in Sydney, Australia, are now using their contactless debit card, credit card or linked device to make 1.5m journeys a week, Transport for NSW has revealed... More
New York City bans cashless stores
New York City has joined New Jersey, Philadelphia and San Francisco in passing legislation that makes it illegal for stores, restaurants and other retail outlets to not accept cash... More
China publishes face recognition payments guidelines
The Payment & Clearing Association of China (PCAC) has published a set of guidelines that regulate how payments providers making use of face recognition to process payments at the point of sale (POS) should manage the protection of consumer data... More
India requires banks to let cardholders opt in to contactless payments
Card issuers in India are to be required to ship all new cards to customers with contactless functionality switched off by default — and also provide cardholders with a range of easy ways to toggle their card’s contactless support on or off... More
Huawei Pay expands to Pakistan
Huawei starts its mobile wallet service Huawei Pay in Pakistan — Technology Times — “Huawei has launched its mobile wallet service Huawei Pay in Pakistan in cooperation with UnionPay International and National Bank of Pakistan, making it the fourth market where Huawei Pay has been made available, following China, Russia and Hong Kong.”
One million Brits now use open banking
The number of consumers using open banking has doubled in the past six months to more than one million, the UK’s Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) reports, and there are now a total of 204 regulated service providers — up from 100 at the end of 2018... More
Venmo adds branded animated emojis to payment messages
US P2P payments app Venmo is adding support for a suite of custom-designed animated emojis that can be used “when paying, splitting and sharing payments” and include branded options from both Subway and Ikea... More
Central banks set up digital currency group
The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Sveriges Riksbank and the Swiss National Bank, together with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), are to work together “to assess potential cases for central bank digital currencies”... More
Sberbank lets customers gift their loyalty points to friends and family
Russia’s Sberbank is launching an app for its Spasibo loyalty programme that will make it possible for customers to transfer their loyalty points to a friend or family member, either as a small gift or so they can “save up Spasibo points for a large purchase together”... More