PM launches RuPay in Singapore — The Tribune — “The RuPay digital payments system was linked up with Singapore’s 33-year-old Network for Electronic Transfers (Nets). RuPay users will be able to make payments at all Nets acceptance points across Singapore. Holders of Singapore Nets will be able to make online purchases on the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) e-commerce merchant website, using 2.8m RuPay point-of-sale terminals in India.”
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Italian merchants to pilot PIN-on-mobile payments
Ingenico and Nexi test in Italy an innovative PIN-on-mobile solution compliant with Visa and Mastercard requirements — Ingenico — “With PIN-on-mobile, card owners manually enter their PIN on a non PCI-PTS device owned by a merchant, such as a smartphone or tablet. The transactions are considered as ‘card present’… This solution will be on a six-month trial period and the pilot project will include 1000+ secure card readers (SCR) to read EMV and contactless bank cards.”
TCL picks ST’s NFC controller for Alcatel 3V smartphone
STMicroelectronics’ NFC technology chosen to distinguish TCL Communication’s Alcatel 3V smartphone through outstanding contactless user experience — STMicroelectronics — PARTNER NEWS — “ST’s technology ensures robust connectivity for fast and reliable contactless payments, e-ticket transactions, peer-to-peer data transfer, and emerging use cases including interacting with ‘physical web’ objects like smart posters or store shelves. Superior RF performance also helped TCL Communication to streamline certification to mandatory stringent EMVCo, GSMA and NFC Forum standards for handsets.”
Apple Pay adds ‘order ahead’ support
Apple Pay tests ‘order ahead’ for drinks at music festivals — Techcrunch — “Last week’s BottleRock music festival near San Francisco was the first to try a new “order ahead with Apple Pay” feature that Apple hopes to bring to more events. You just open the festival’s app, select the closest concession stand, choose your drinks, Apple Pay with your face or fingerprint and pick up the beverages at a dedicated window with no queue.”
Meet NFC World’s partners at Money20/20 Europe
NFC World partners Antelop Solutions, Dejamobile, NXP and Rambus will be attending the Money20/20 Europe expo in Amsterdam from June 4-6... More
ABN Amro pilot finds customers prefer making wearable payments
Wearables favourite when paying — ABN Amro — “ABN Amro launched a pilot earlier this year in which 500 clients were asked to make payments using wearables. Of these clients, an impressive 78% now prefer the wearables, and only 19% prefer their debit cards. On average, clients make six payments a week for amounts under 25 euros. ABN Amro is extending the pilot to test new functionalities with this pilot group.”
Hong Kong to be global battlefront for mobile payments?
A payments battle is brewing in Hong Kong — Bloomberg — “Alipay’s azure blue logos began appearing two years ago in Hong Kong’s airport, greeting travelers from China who rely on the popular payments app back home. In recent months, taxis got them. Now stores and boutiques have them. They’re all signs of a battle brewing in Hong Kong that will test whether a Western-style financial system — based on banks, credit and debit cards — can fend off a pair of apps that have come to dominate how people spend and send money throughout China. If Ant Financial’s Alipay and Tencent Holdings Ltd’s WeChat Pay can expand into the city and win new customers there, why not in Europe and the US, too?”
Ant Financial signs technology sharing deals with Chinese banks
Ant Financial to support Shanghai Pudong Development Bank’s digital transformation with financial grade technologies — Ant Financial — “The partnership will allow Ant Financial and SPD Bank to strengthen collaboration on a broad range of inclusive finance initiatives, from improving user experience while using online and offline payment services, to providing secure, convenient and efficient financial services for small and micro businesses… The agreement is the third of its kind announced this month between Ant Financial and established banks, following partnerships with Huaxia Bank and China Everbright Bank.”
Citigroup to use rewards to turn credit card customers into digital bank account holders
Citigroup won’t use high deposit rates to win digital accounts: executive — Reuters — “Citigroup Inc does not plan to use high deposit rates to attract customers to its new digital bank accounts when it begins marketing this fall, the chief of its global consumer bank said on Tuesday… Instead, the bank will market the accounts nationally to its credit card customers, such as holders of its Double Cash card and cards it issues for American Airlines Group, and Costco Wholesale Corp and Home Depot Inc… Bird said, for example, that offering additional American Airlines mileage credits will attract stable deposits to the bank.”
Apple Pay boss explains how it promotes adoption in the US
This woman is fattening the Apple Pay wallet — Fast Company — “We essentially put on an Apple Pay street fair. Local merchants who accept Apple Pay present an offer — maybe a dollar off your ice cream. We bring in food trucks and [feature] fun activities… We’ve also done event-type marketing at music festivals. Last year at BottleRock [a music and wine festival in Napa Valley], we worked with the event organizers to create Apple Pay-only lines. When you go to a concert, the last thing you want is to stand in line to pay for your beer.”
Shanghai Metro to accept WeChat Pay mobile payments at turnstiles
Ride the subway using WeChat Pay — Global Times — “Starting Monday, WeChat Pay will be accepted as a means of payment for passengers riding the metro lines of Shanghai. After downloading and using the official mobile app of Shanghai Metro ‘Metro Daduhui’, passengers can pass through station gates simply by scanning the WeChat QR code.”
Ant Financial raises $10bn at a $150bn valuation
China’s Ant Financial raises $10 billion at $150 billion valuation: sources — Reuters — “Ant Financial Services Group, operator of China’s biggest online payment platform by market share, Alipay, has closed its latest funding round having raised US$10bn from a clutch of global and local investors, five people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Ant’s first fundraising targeting global money values the firm at US$150bn, the people said, compared with about US$60bn after its previous fundraising in April 2016.”
Facebook partners with major banks to roll out WhatsApp Pay across India
WhatsApp hastens payments push for 200 million Indians — Bloomberg — “Facebook Inc is set to offer its WhatsApp payment services to the whole of India as early as next week in an attempt to win market share, even though its partners aren’t all ready, said people familiar with the matter. The messaging app will partner with HDFC Bank Ltd, ICICI Bank Ltd and Axis Bank Ltd to process the transfers, and State Bank of India will join once it has the necessary systems in place.”
Rambus explains how tokenization can be used to reduce the risks of real-time payments
“Tokenization has succeeded in mitigating fraud elsewhere in mobile payments, and is now ready to do the same for real-time payments, enabling account-based transactions to be processed faster and safer than ever before,” Rambus’ David Worthington explains in a new white paper that is now available to download from the NFC World Knowledge Centre... More
Asian ride hailing giant Grab to let users pay for public transit with its app
Bid to enable public transit payments via GrabPay — The Straits Times — “In future, the Grab app will give commuters a range of options — from a direct point-to-point method, using taxis or private hire cars, or through multiple modes including transfers on shuttle buses, cars and public transport. ‘You pay everything in a seamless way — cashless — through GrabPay.”
Australian banks launch Beem It P2P payments app
Big bank-backed Beem It launches Aussie payments app — ZDNet — “The Commonwealth Bank, NAB, and Westpac joined forces to create Beem It, allowing the real-time transfer of funds… The app enables sending and receiving money, with an interface reminiscent of a social media app… ‘It’s using Eftpos, and Visa debit card payment rails,’ Beem It chief product and development officer Deepesh Banerji said.”
Chinese banks report growth in mobile payments volumes
Chinese banks post robust growth in mobile payments — Xinhua — “Chinese banks posted robust growth in mobile payments in the first quarter of this year, according to the People’s Bank of China (PBOC). Banking institutions handled 70.8 trillion yuan (US$11.1tn) in mobile payments in the period, up 16.8% year on year, the central bank data showed. Around 10.7bn payments were made through the banks’ mobile services in the first quarter, an increase of 17.8% year on year.”
London’s buskers to go contactless
Busking goes cashless with ‘a world first’ for London — BBC — “London has introduced a contactless payment scheme for buskers in what the organisers claim is a world first. In addition to tossing loose change into a box, passers-by can use card readers to make contactless payments…The scheme will be be rolled out across the city after successful trials.”
Apple to add new NFC features in iOS 12?
Apple is set to announce that iOS 12 will include “a significant change” to the iPhone’s NFC capabilities that “could pave the way for people to use iPhones for other security-sensitive interactions, from paying transit fares and opening car doors to verifying their identity in other ways”, according to a report in The Information... More
Marshall Islands to issue official digital currency
Marshall Islands to issue own sovereign cryptocurrency — Reuters — “The Marshall Islands will issue its own cryptocurrency that will be circulated as legal tender along with the US dollar… SOV is based on what the Marshall Islands government calls the ‘Yakwe framework’, which requires users to identify themselves on the blockchain, solving the anonymity problem that has plagued bitcoin and precluded its mainstream adoption.”