eMarketer projects surge in mobile payments in China — eMarketer — “eMarketer has raised its projections by more than 86% for 2017, and now expects 461.4 million people in the country to use a phone to pay at the POS… By 2021, 79.3% of smartphone users will be tapping, scanning and swiping at the POS. By comparison, the US will have 31% of users doing so, and that figure will be 23% in Germany.”
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Researchers build ID data into smart clothing
How to store information in your clothes invisibly, without electronics — University of Washington — “Most people today combine conductive thread — embroidery thread that can carry an electrical current — with other types of electronics to create outfits, stuffed animals or accessories that light up or communicate… The UW researchers realized that this off-the-shelf conductive thread also has magnetic properties that can be manipulated to store either digital data or visual information like letters or numbers. This data can be read by a magnetometer, an inexpensive instrument that measures the direction and strength of magnetic fields and is embedded in most smartphones.”
Android Pay to let users track all their card purchases?
Android Pay appears to be testing the ability to see all card purchases, even those not done on your phone — 9to5Google — “The Android Pay app appears to be testing out a new feature for ‘full purchase history’. In short, this new feature pulls your entire transaction history from your card and displays it right alongside Android Pay purchases. This new setting on Android Pay appears to only work for specific cards, though. In this first case, it works with an American Express Cash card.”
Android Pay goes live in Ukraine
Android Pay in Ukraine — Pay for your purchases in just a few seconds — Google Ukraine (Translation) — “We are pleased to announce that Android users in Ukraine can now not only search and receive information at the right time with the Google app, optimize their Google Maps routes and enjoy various apps on Google Play, but also quickly and securely make purchases offline and online using Android Pay… Today, Android Pay in Ukraine only works with Mastercard and Visa cards issued by PrivatBank, but the list of banks will be constantly replenished.”
Taxi hailing app Grab targets Asian mobile payment market
Grab starts mobile wallet service at hawker stalls in Singapore — Bloomberg — “Grab will enable its four million users in the city-state to scan a quick response, or QR, code to pay for local dishes such as chicken rice and prawn noodles at hawker stands around the country. Grab plans to increase the number of small merchants accepting GrabPay from 25 to 1,000 by the end of December… The five-year-old startup plans to roll out mobile wallet services across the region next year, according to co-founder Tan Hooi Ling.”
Amex adds biometric authentication to Safekey 3D Secure platform
American Express supports next generation of digital commerce over internet-connected devices with SafeKey 2.0 rollout — American Express — “SafeKey 2.0, which leverages the EMV 3D Secure 2.0 industry standard, is a global solution that provides an extra layer of security when an American Express card member makes a purchase online at a participating merchant… The updated platform supports authentication methods using biometrics, including fingerprints and facial recognition… In addition, SafeKey 2.0 will support card issuers and merchant acquirers in the European Union as they address the Strong Customer Authentication requirements of the Payment Services Directive 2.0.”
Finger vibration biometric could allow authentication on any solid surface
Security system identifies users by finger vibrations — Futurity — “A new low-cost security system called VibWrite could eventually use finger vibrations to verify users… It includes an inexpensive vibration motor and receiver, and can turn any solid surface into an authentication surface… During two trials, VibWrite verified legitimate users with more than 95% accuracy and the false positive rate was less than 3%.”
Indian mobile wallet giant Paytm plans expansion to US, Japan and Europe
India’s top payment app has eyes on US market — Wall Street Journal — “India’s largest mobile payment app — backed by the likes of China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp — has its eye on the US, its founder said. Speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s D.Live Singapore event, Paytm founder and chief executive Vijay Shekhar Sharma said his aim is to expand into developed markets, also including Japan and Europe.”
Facebook’s WhatsApp to offer in-chat payments in India
WhatsApp in-chat payments feature is bad news for digital wallets, payment companies in India — FactorDaily — “Instant messenger WhatsApp is readying an intuitive in-chat payments feature, ahead of a likely December launch in India… This will be the first time that WhatsApp is introducing the payments feature anywhere in the world… The Facebook-owned company has partnered with three banks – State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, three of India’s biggest banks, to launch the feature, FactorDaily has also learned.”
Australian banks form digital payments joint venture
NAB, Westpac and CBA team up with new payments app, Beem — The Sydney Morning Herald — “Three of the country’s banking giants are joining forces to allow instant payments between people or to small businesses via a smartphone, with plans to ultimately roll out a cross-industry ‘digital wallet’… The app will be the first service offered by a new digital payments joint venture that has been formed between CBA, NAB and Westpac… ANZ is not part of the joint venture but it has been involved in some of the discussions with rivals, and it may sign up in the future.”
Face ID for Apple Pay gets thumbs up in pre-release review
The first first impression of the iPhone X — Wired — “I really liked Apple Pay with iPhone X — having to double-click on the side button and then use Face ID was a clearer way to do transactions.”
Capital One rolls out Eno chatbot to credit card and banking customers
What we learned about what our chatbot learned — Capital One — “In March at SXSW 2017, Capital One launched an invite-only pilot of Eno, the first natural language SMS chatbot from a US bank. Today, we’re thrilled to announce that Eno has emerged from the pilot and is now available to text with millions of Capital One US credit card and bank customers.”
Brazilian fintech Trigg offers wearable payments bracelet to cardholders
Trigg launches a bracelet that works like a credit card — Visa Brazil (Translation) — “The bracelet is elastic silicone, waterproof and was designed for an audience that wants a payment method that speeds up the shopping process and can be used during sports activities, while enjoying a swim on the beach, paying for a manicure or even while enjoying a show, without worrying about needing a physical wallet.”
Bancontact adds NFC payments to mobile app
Bancontact rolls out contactless smartphone payments to the general public — Bancontact — “Belgians already make more than one million payments each month using the Bancontact app. And Bancontact has now also activated its app for contactless payments… You can use any ordinary bank card in the Bancontact app to pay contactlessly. Which means you don’t have to register a special contactless card in the app.”
Sony applies for blockchain user authentication patent
Sony seeks blockchain patent for user authentication system — Coindesk — “The document outlines how the electronics maker might use two different blockchain platforms in conjunction with each other as part of a multi-factor authentication system (MFA).”
Survey: Market fragmentation is holding back the adoption of mobile payments in Canada
Fragmentation, lack of interest to blame for poor mobile payments adoption in Canada — MobileSyrup — “While almost half of Canadians made a contactless purchase with their debit or credit card, the percentage of mobile payments users for platforms like Android Pay, Samsung Pay and Apple Pay is in the low single digits — even though awareness is “relatively high,” with roughly half of those polled stating they were aware of one of the big three platforms.”
Westpac to offer wearable payment options to customers
Westpac reveals ‘PayWear’ wearable payment technology — Westpac — “When speaking with customers, personal style and choice were important. In fact, 70% agreed that they would only wear a wearable device if it suited their own personal style and lifestyle. This is why we will collaborate with iconic Australian designers to create a variety of wearable accessory designs to suit different tastes, preferences and styles.”
Google reports 7.5m users of its Tez audio QR mobile payments app
Edited transcript of Alphabet earnings conference call — Yahoo Finance — “To help millions of people, we are building products specifically designed for local markets in Asia. In India last month, we launched Tez, a mobile payments and commerce app that already has more than 7.5 million users who have made more than 30m transactions. I’m really excited about the potential this brings for India’s mostly cash-based economy.”
Auriemma reports 5% dip in mobile payment usage in US stores
Security concerns and problems at the register continue to depress mobile pay usage and net promoter scores — Auriemma Consulting Group — “Many Pay users run into problems at checkout… Half of those who had problems at a retail location that accepts mobile payments say the issue made them use the service less often overall… In fact, 45% of in-store Pay purchasers quit trying to use mobile payments entirely, and use a physical card instead.”
Eight in ten air travellers want to store their passport on their phone
Passengers want technology to give them more control over their travel experience — IATA — “82% of travelers would like to be able to use a digital passport on their smartphones for as many travel activities as possible, from booking flights to passing through the airport. Biometric identification systems were the technology of choice with 64% favoring biometric identifiers as their preferred travel token.”