Chinese consumers in the 23 cities and regions piloting the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) can now automatically transfer funds to their digital yuan wallet app whenever their balance runs low, removing the need to manually top up the balance in their e-yuan app... More
Nearly nine in ten consumers worldwide have made digital payments using digital wallets, contactless, QR codes, buy now pay later, money transfer apps, cryptocurrencies, biometrics and other digital payment technologies (85%) and more than six in ten say they have increased their usage of at least one digital payment method (61%) in the last 12 months, according to a Mastercard survey... More
Visa has announced that it has now issued more than 4bn tokens worldwide through its Visa Token Service, nearly double the total 12 months ago and surpassing the number of physical Visa cards in circulation for the first time... More
Google Wallet has gone live in Azerbaijan, Iceland, Moldova, Qatar, Serbia and South Africa, enabling users to store and use their credit and debit cards, tickets, passes and other digital credentials on their Android NFC devices... More
Three in four iPhone users in the USA have now activated Apple Pay (75%), a rise of 25 percentage points from 50% in 2020, according to research by Loup Ventures... More
Customers of Poland’s Bank Pocztowy are among the first in the country to be able to apply for a biometric debit card that allows them to authenticate contactless payments using their fingerprint... More
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and more than 20 other transit agencies that support the Clipper fare payment system in the San Francisco Bay Area of the USA are trialling a contactless transit pass that will allow passengers to take unlimited free journeys on bus, rail and ferry services in the region... More
Rail operator NS in the Netherlands is to pilot a contactless open loop fare payment system that will enable passengers to pay for their train fares by tapping their physical debit or credit card or their digital debit card stored on a smartphone or smartwatch at the beginning and the end of their journey... More
Customers of America First Credit Union (AFCU) in the US states of Utah and Arizona can now use either state’s mobile driving licence (mDL) to securely verify their identity when accessing their financial information and conducting banking transactions at any of the credit union’s 121 branch locations... More
Passengers travelling on public transport services operated by GO Transit, Brampton Transit, MiWay and Oakville Transit in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area of Ontario in Canada can now make contactless fare payments with a tap of their physical or digital credit card, without needing to buy a Presto transit card or e-ticket... More
Nearly one in three of all payments in the UK were made using contactless cards or with a smartphone or smart watch in 2021 (32%), a rise of 36% compared with transaction volumes in 2020, according to figures from UK Finance... More
Apple Pay has launched in Qatar with support for American Express cards and Mastercard and Visa cards issued by seven major banks... More
The proportion of contactless payments made for purchases from vending machines in the US increased from 18% of all transactions in January 2021 to 43% in October 2021, has now reached 48% and “could grow by another 12%” by the end of this year, a new study reveals... More
Merchants in New Zealand can now accept contactless payments on an ordinary Android NFC smartphone using a low-cost software point of sale (sPOS) solution that users will be able to implement without a monthly fee for using the app until January 2024 if transactions are settled to a Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) account... More
Apple users will be able to switch on smart devices such as e-bikes, speakers and other accessories from an iPhone or Apple Watch running the forthcoming iOS 16 update without needing to unlock their own device or take it out of their bag or pocket via third-party apps that use both ultra wideband (UWB) and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology... More
Norway, Finland and New Zealand are the three countries closest to becoming cashless societies, followed by Hong Kong, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, the UK, Singapore and the Netherlands, according to research published by Merchant Machine... More
Motorists in Malaysia can now purchase and place an RFID tag in their vehicle that allows them to make hands-free contactless payments for fuel directly from a digital wallet using RFID-enabled fuelling bays at nearly 90 Shell fuel stations across the country without needing to use their mobile phone or payment card... More
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is to run a series of pilot schemes to test the use of mobile payments technology to enable citizens entitled to financial support under its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to receive benefits and make NFC or QR code payments for eligible purchases on their mobile device... More
Apple Pay has launched in Malaysia with support for Mastercard and Visa cards issued by AmBank, Maybank and Standard Chartered Bank... More
Fans of German football club 1 FC Köln have trialled a team scarf incorporating an NFC chip that can be used instead of a conventional ticket to gain access to the stadium and also enables users to access exclusive real-time digital content during a match... More