Students at an additional 12 US universities will be able to use their iPhone or Apple Watch “to get into dorms, buy lunch and more” in the coming school year, Apple has announced... More
Apple expands NFC student IDs to 12 more universities
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Three in four US Apple Pay users ‘are attracted to the Apple Card’
Three-quarters of Apple Pay users are attracted to the Apple Card — and so are 60% of eligible non-users, a US consumer survey conducted by Auriemma Group has found... More
Half of US Apple Pay users set to apply for an Apple Card
52% of Apple Pay users say they are likely to apply for an Apple Card in the next 12 months, a JD Power survey of US consumers has found... More
Mumbai bus passengers to pilot India’s new national transit ticketing system
Mumbai bus operator BEST is to begin a pilot of India’s ‘One Nation One Card’ national transit card system in November this year... More
Daimler pilots Truck Wallet that lets vehicles make their own payments
Daimler Trucks has announced the successful completion of a proof-of-concept pilot of Truck Wallet, a machine-to-machine (M2M) payments service designed to enable vehicles to automatically pay for road tolls, electric charging and other services — without involving or interacting with the driver... More
China sets out plans for two-tier digital currency
China’s central bank has completed a five-year project to develop a digital currency that can be processed at a speed which is fast enough for it to be used in a retail environment, a senior People’s Bank of China (PBOC) official has revealed... More
US Army to issue soldiers with wearable contactless IDs
The US Army is looking to replace its current smartcard-based Common Access Card (CAC) with “wireless, lightweight, flexible and rugged” wearable contactless identity tokens that can be inserted into a soldier’s pocket, attached to a sleeve or integrated into a wristband... More
DIG puts premium wines on blockchain NFC authentication platform
Chinese buyers of premium wines are now able to verify the authenticity of their purchase using the Wine Traceability Platform (WTP), a blockchain-based NFC service designed to protect Chinese consumers against the growing problem of fake wines... More
NFC mobile payments to account for ‘just 1.6%’ of in-store transactions this year
Payment methods like Apple Pay and Google Pay will be used by US consumers to make transactions valued at a total of US$78.6bn this year, representing 1.6% of all US brick-and-mortar retail sales, according to a new forecast from 451 Research... More
POC adds NFC chips to bike helmets
Sports equipment maker POC has included NFC chips in two new cycling helmets “to aid user safety and protection” in the case of injury, Endurance Business reports... More
Google rolls out NFC Titan Security Keys to Canada, France, Japan and UK
Titan Security Keys are now available in Canada, France, Japan, and the UK — Google — “Titan Security Keys are built with a hardware chip that includes firmware engineered by Google to verify the keys’ integrity. Each key leverages FIDO standards to cryptographically verify your identity and URL of the login page, preventing an attacker from accessing your account even if you are tricked into providing your username and password.”
CryptoKaiju launches Cryptokitty toys with NFC
Wouldn’t you like a Real CryptoKitty? — Decrypt — “The 7.5 inch CryptoKitties each have a unique identity and are traceable on the blockchain. Look underneath the toy’s foot, and you’ll see a tamper-proof, near field communication (NFC) tag, with a unique serial number. Doting owners can interact with the chip, using a smartphone or other device, to access details about their toy’s unique characteristics.”
California winemaker to use NFC to provide buyers with a ‘farm-to-table’ experience
Böen Wines is to use NFC tags incorporated into all its bottle caps to let customers easily access information about where and how their wine was made, get advice on food pairings and “share their own experiences with Böen within the platform and via social media”... More
Shinhan pilots face recognition payments in Korea
Korea’s Shinhan Card has begun testing Shinhan Face Pay, a face recognition payments system that it is developing with CU convenience stores operator BGF Retail “to identify customers who visit unmanned convenience stores in the future”... More
CaixaBank reports 87% rise in mobile payments users
One million CaixaBank customers are now using their mobile phone to make in-store payments, up 87% on this time last year, and 100,000 customers are making payments using wearable devices, the Spanish bank has reported... More
DHL tracks temperature-sensitive medical supplies with NFC
New logistics technologies introduced at DHL Global Chicago hub — Healthcare Packaging — “Using near field communication (NFC) technology, sensors log in-transit ambient environmental temperature conditions during shipping, functioning at temperatures between -40 and +60 degrees Celsius. The sensors allow uploading of temperature data directly to the DHL mobile app and LifeTrack web portal, making them cost effective and easy to use without the need for specific scanners or devices… DHL has seen a 40% increase in operational capabilities using these scanners.”
Apple demos NFC tag reading for Apple Card activation
Titanium Apple Card activation with background NFC tag reading — Ata Distance — “Apple has posted two videos for activating the Titanium Apple Card: a video for A12 Bionic iPhone XR/XS with background NFC tag reading, and a video for non-A12 Bionic iPhones without background NFC tag reading ability. This marks the first time Apple has put A12 Bionic background NFC tag reading ability to use, almost a year since the new functionality appeared.”
ShipChain to use NFC to track temperature-sensitive shipments on the blockchain
ShipChain and GTX Corp launch global NFC blockchain shipment tracking solution — ShipChain — “The NFC tags provide real-time temperature sensing and data logging across the supply chain necessary with transportation of perishables; food, drinks, pharmaceuticals and other temperature-sensitive products that can be negatively affected by conditions in transit. These built-in security measures can prevent the distribution of contaminated supplies in the marketplace and unauthorised modification of data logs, allowing brands, retailers, distributors, and freight forwarders to verify shipment quality.”
Face recognition to replace QR codes in China?
As China turns towards facial recognition payments, are QR codes on their way out? — South China Morning Post — “As the familiar square mosaic gains greater popularity outside China, the tech giants that helped to drive its adoption are already moving away from the app-based payment method to something even more portable: your face.”
Tencent reports 100 million transit ticketing mini-app users
100 million transit riders are paying with WeChat mini-program: Tencent — Caixin Global — “Ride Code allows subway and bus riders to pay for transit fares with QR codes directly upon boarding in various Chinese cities. At subway stations, that means showing your barcode at the turnstile. Riders do not need to visit ticket kiosks as the fare is deducted from their WeChat Pay wallet.”