Vein imaging using detection of pulsed radiation — USPTO — “Vein identification systems that are known in the art transmit infrared illumination through the user’s hand, and capture a resulting image in which the veins within the hand appear as dark or bright lines due to variations in the captured infrared intensity… In the disclosed embodiments, an optical transmitter, such as a laser, emits a pulse or sequence of pulses of infrared radiation toward an area containing a body surface of a living subject, such as the skin of the subject’s face.”
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Walmart cancels its scan-and-go payments pilot due to ‘low adoption’
Phasing out the checkout line: Retailers race to make shopping more seamless — CBC — “Walmart has abandoned mobile scan-and-go shopping at its US stores… The retailer rolled out the test project in about 120 US locations starting this past August. Walmart spokesperson Ragan Dickens said in an interview this week that scan and go had a ‘low adoption rate’.”
Challenger banks add location-based payments to mobile apps
UK banks are trying out location-based P2P payments — Tearsheet — “On Friday, Revolut introduced a feature called ‘Near Me’ which lets its customers find other Revolut customers using the same feature and send them money without knowing their contact details. On Monday, Monzo rolled out a capability called ‘Nearby Friends’… When the user opens Nearby Friends, Monzo generates a token representing the user through its API, which is then sent to Google Nearby through Bluetooth on the user’s device to ‘broadcast’ it to other Monzo apps within a 90-foot radius.”
French banks to add P2P transfers to Paylib online and in-store mobile payments service
Paylib wants to become France’s Swiss Army payment knife — Les Echos (translation) — “Following the introduction of online and in-store payments, customers of the six partner banks will be able to make person-to-person money transfers by the summer. BNP Paribas launched the new ‘Paylib entre amis’ [Paylib between friends] service last Wednesday while Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, BPCE, Société Générale, Crédit Agricole and La Banque Postale will follow in the coming weeks.”
Facebook to develop its own cryptocurrency?
Facebook plans to create its own cryptocurrency — Cheddar — “Facebook is exploring the creation of its own cryptocurrency, a virtual token that would allow its billions of users around the world to make electronic payments, people familiar with Facebook’s plans told Cheddar.”
Amazon to open cashierless stores in Chicago and San Francisco
Amazon will open checkout-free stores in Chicago and San Francisco — Engadget — “Amazon has posted job listings for store managers in both Chicago and San Francisco, making it clear where the automated stores are headed next… Amazon has a building permit for a store in Chicago’s Loop, while a San Francisco Chronicle report claimed that a store would open near Union Square. An earlier Recode scoop asserted that Amazon would open as many as six more stores in 2018, with one possibly coming to Los Angeles.”
National Bank to pilot biometric payment cards in Kuwait
National Bank of Kuwait and Mastercard make GCC debut of pioneering biometric solutions — Zawya — “NBK customers will be the first in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region to experience Mastercard’s Identity Check online authentication solution, while a pilot program for an innovative biometric card with an embedded fingerprint sensor will be a first for the GCC.”
Okey Co explains how its contactless keyfob can unlock new NFC business opportunities
PARTNER NEWS: A presentation that sets out the potential of the Okey — a standalone, multifunction NFC keyfob that can store multiple contactless payment, transit, loyalty and identity cards — is now available to download from the NFC World Knowledge Centre... More
Wells Fargo makes it easier for customers to access popular mobile payments services
Wells Fargo reimagines mobile experience with ‘Pay with Wells Fargo’ — Wells Fargo — “Today Wells Fargo & Company announced Pay with Wells Fargo, which will bring to the app’s home screen an option for customers to conveniently select their most commonly used payment features like Zelle, mobile wallets, card-free ATM access code and transfers, even before signing into the app… Longer-term features of Pay with Wells Fargo will be customized based on customers’ personal usage patterns. Customers also will have the ability to customize the highlighted features themselves.”
Google Pay update to provide users with a single view of all their transactions
Google Pay’s app adds boarding passes, tickets, P2P payments and more — Techcrunch — “In an upcoming update of the Google Pay app, we’re going to allow you to manage all the payment methods in your Google account — not just the payment methods that you used to pay in-store… And even better, we’re going to provide you with a holistic view of all your transactions — whether they be on Google apps and services, such as Play and YouTube, whether they be with third-party merchants, such as Walgreens and Uber, or whether they’re transactions you’ve made to friends and families via our peer-to-peer service.”
Apple to launch Apple Pay credit card in 2019
Goldman Sachs, Apple team up on new credit card — Wall Street Journal — “Apple Inc and Goldman Sachs Group Inc are preparing to launch a new joint credit card, a move that would deepen the technology giant’s push into its customers’ wallets and mark the Wall Street firm’s first foray into plastic. The planned card would carry the Apple Pay brand and could launch early next year.”
Rambus brings tokenization to real-time payments
PARTNER NEWS: Rambus has unveiled Payment Account Tokenization, a new solution that increases the security of direct credit, direct debit and person-to-person (P2P) payments services by replacing account numbers with unique tokens... More
Google Pay adds support for NFC tickets and boarding passes
Google Pay gains support for event tickets and boarding passes — VentureBeat — “Companies that integrate with Google Pay’s API — such as Ticketmaster — can enable their customers to save tickets directly to their phone by hitting the ‘Save to phone’ button after the checkout… Instead of having to open the Google Pay app or scan QR codes, fans will be able to simply hold their phone up to an NFC reader at the check-in to gain admission.”
Google includes biometric prompt API in Android P
What’s new in Android P Beta — Google — “Apps can use the new BiometricPrompt API instead of displaying their own biometric auth dialogs… In addition to supporting fingerprints (including in-display sensors), it also supports face and iris authentication, providing a system-wide consistent experience.”
US consumers are making fewer online purchases on their mobile phones due to ‘cumbersome payment methods’
Forrester: Mobile shopping stalls as payment hinders growth — Mobile Marketer — “Cumbersome payment methods that require too many keystrokes at checkout are impeding the adoption of commerce on mobile, where conversion rates are about half that of desktop and laptop platforms… The percentage of online US sales made on mobile phones dipped from 43% in 2016 to 36% last year… During that same time, ecommerce grew by 14%.”
FNB to roll out biometric ATMs that customers can use to open a bank account
Biometric ATMs extend banking services — IT-Online — “The TouchPoint validates a customer’s identity by scanning a fingerprint placed on the biometric reader and it can detect false fingerprints to prevent fraud. The identity of the customer is then verified with the Department of Home Affairs to ensure the self-service account opening complies with the relevant laws.”
Phoenix reports drop in number of US consumers making use of Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay
“Not just Apple Pay, but the two other major third party contactless wallets, Google Pay (formerly Android Pay) and Samsung Pay, are tracing a slow but definite descent in adoption among smartphone owners”, research conducted by Phoenix Marketing International has found... More
Instagram lets merchants take payments from within its app
Instagram quietly launches payments for commerce — Techcrunch — “Instagram just stealthily added a native payments feature to its app for some users. It lets you register a debit or credit card as part of a profile, set up a security pin, then start buying things without ever leaving Instagram… A tap through to the terms of service reveals that Instagram Payments are backed by Facebook’s Payments rules.”
Samsung Pay adds cashback deals ‘from leading retailers’
A more holistic mobile shopping experience with Samsung services — Samsung — “In the new Cash Back section of the Samsung Pay app’s home screen, users will find a range of exclusive offers from leading retailers. When they click on the offer they want and complete a purchase through the participating merchant, the user will receive a percentage back on their purchase which they can then spend toward a purchase — anywhere they use Samsung Pay.”
Google releases SDK for securing applications with TEEs
Introducing Asylo: an open-source framework for confidential computing — Google — “Asylo is an open-source framework and SDK for developing applications that run in trusted execution environments (TEEs)… Previously, developing and running applications in a TEE required specialized knowledge and tools. In addition, implementations have been tied to specific hardware environments. Asylo makes TEEs much more broadly accessible to the developer community, across a range of hardware — both on-premises and in the cloud.”