The European Parliament has adopted the Digital Markets Act (DMA) that will obligate Apple, Google and other “gatekeeper” technology companies to allow app developers and third-party service providers access to device functionalities “such as near-field communication technology, secure elements and processors, authentication mechanisms and the software used to operate those technologies”... More
Passengers using two subway lines in South Korea will soon be able to test a ‘tagless’ fare payment system that enables them to pay for their tickets by walking through a ticketing gate without having to tap a contactless reader with their transit card or smartphone... More
The Federal Government of Belgium is to enable residents to store a digital version of their national identity card along with other official credentials in a digital ID wallet on their smartphone... More
Drivers in Germany can now use their Apple Watch or Android smartwatch to make contactless payments at the pump at Team Energie fuel stations across the country via a fuel payment app without needing to take their smartphone out of their bag, pocket or vehicle... More
Residents of Switzerland will be able to download and store a digital version of their national ID card in a digital identity wallet on their smartphone along with other digital credentials such as club membership cards and event tickets... More
Fans of Leeds United Football Club in England will be able to gain entry to home games at Elland Road stadium during the 2022-23 season by scanning a digital NFC season pass or match ticket stored on their smartphone or smart watch at stadium turnstiles... More
Apple CarPlay users will soon be able to activate fuel station pumps and make contactless in-car payments directly from their vehicle’s navigation and infotainment screen using third-party fuelling apps... More
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is piloting a new kind of automated, contactless store that uses biometric authentication to let those entitled to subsidised commodities such as rice, wheat and grains receive their allocation without needing to visit a traditional retail outlet... More
Delta Air Lines passengers in the USA can now apply for a contactless credit card which is the first to have been made using recycled aircraft metal... More
Westpac bank in Australia is piloting a software point of sale (sPOS) solution that will enable merchants to accept contactless payments on their Android NFC smartphone or tablet without needing any additional accessories or hardware... More
The delivery of payment cards worldwide will continue to be “severely” impacted by global chip shortages and disruptions in the supply chains of other materials into and throughout 2023, according to a Smart Payment Association (SPA) forecast... More
Meta is planning to develop a digital wallet that will enable consumers to purchase digital items such as digital clothing and music, confirm proof of ownership and manage their identity when accessing future metaverse services, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has revealed in a Facebook post... More
Rome’s public transport operator Atac is testing the Tap & Go contactless fare payment system already in use on the Italian capital’s subway network on one of the city’s main bus routes prior to implementing it across its entire bus fleet... More
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is to enable consumers without smartphones to make transactions with the country’s eNaira central bank digital currency (CBDC) on devices such as feature phones using unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) codes that work in a similar way to SMS messages... More
Public transport users in Costa Rica will soon be able to make contactless fare payments across all the country’s rail and bus networks with their EMV contactless card or device using a national multimodal transit ticketing system... More
Residents of Ethiopia will be among the first in Africa to be able to acquire a dedicated contactless health card that stores their digitised medical data — including their Covid-19 vaccination records — and enables them to make that data available to healthcare professionals without needing an internet connection to access online databases... More
The number of checkout-free contactless stores around the world increased from 87 in 2020 to 252 in 2021 and will rise by more than 90% a year to exceed 12,000 by the end of 2027, according to Retail Banking Research (RBR)... More
Nearly one in five Chinese consumers have downloaded the country’s official digital yuan wallet app (19%), with the majority of them mainly using the central bank digital currency (CBDC) for ecommerce purchases (72%) and payments for public services such as transportation (67%), a survey by US research firm Morning Consult has found... More
The number of digital loyalty programme memberships that offer consumers rewards and incentives such as discounts, vouchers, cashback and reward points will grow by 33% from 24bn worldwide in 2022 to more than 32bn in 2026, according to a forecast by Juniper Research... More
Samsung Galaxy users in the USA, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK can now store their digital payment, loyalty and membership cards as well as digital keys, boarding passes and Covid-19 vaccination certificates on their smartphone using the Samsung Wallet app... More