Transport for NSW is to pilot a Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) app in Sydney, Australia, that will enable passengers to plan, book and pay for journeys across both private and public transport services and opt to purchase a prepaid multimodal mobility plan... More
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NFC digital car keys go live for Android users
Android users with a Samsung Galaxy 21 or Google Pixel 6 series smartphone can now lock, unlock and start compatible vehicles using an NFC digital car key stored on their mobile device... More
More than 67m contactless POS terminals shipped in 2020
Annual shipments of NFC-ready POS terminals reached 67.2m units globally in 2020, bringing the total number to 140.5m or 68% of all POS terminals worldwide, according to Berg Insight... More
Mobile contactless payments now account for one in three card transactions in Russia
Mobile contactless payments now account for just over a third of all card transactions (34%) and just under a third of total card transaction value (31%) in Russia compared with 25% of transactions and 23% of transaction value in 2019-2020, according to MTS Bank research... More
Sainsbury’s lets customers ‘just walk out’ of contactless store in London
Customers using a Sainsbury’s contactless convenience store in London can now take the products they want to purchase from the shelves and charge their purchases to their credit or debit card without needing to scan them with their smartphone or visit a checkout by using a new feature on the UK retailer’s SmartShop app... More
New South Wales to roll out ‘whole-of-government’ digital identity wallet in 2022
The state government of New South Wales in Australia is to expand its digital ID system and enable citizens to store, display and renew a wider range of identity documents and other personal credentials including digital versions of their birth certificate, educational qualifications, seniors card and vocational licences in a digital wallet on their mobile device... More
Carrefour opens its first contactless store in Paris
France-based supermarket chain Carrefour has opened its first contactless convenience store in Paris that allows customers to walk in, select the items they wish to purchase and pay for them without needing to register or check in at the entrance, download an app or scan their purchases with their mobile device or at a checkout... More
Westpac expands dynamic CVVs to Android phones
Customers of Australia’s Westpac bank with an Android smartphone will soon be able to make payments using a digital card secured by a dynamic card verification code (CVC) that changes every 24 hours... More
UAE launches blockchain postage stamp with NFC authentication
Emirates Post Group is issuing a set of four “crypto stamps” in both physical and blockchain-enabled digital form that purchasers can authenticate by scanning an NFC chip embedded in the physical version with their smartphone... More
Paradies Lagardère expands mobile self-checkout to airport stores across the US and Canada
Customers at Paradies Lagardère retail outlets at 20 additional airports across the US and Canada can now scan and pay for the products they select with their own mobile device without needing to visit a checkout... More
Japanese banks gear up to test digital currency
A consortium of more than 70 leading banks, financial services providers and other businesses in Japan is to conduct a series of proof of concept (PoC) trials of a digital currency supported by commercial banks across a range of specific use cases with the aim of rolling the currency out by the end of the 2022 fiscal year... More
US grocery stores trial AI-powered self-checkout shopping carts
Two US stores owned by retail giant Albertsons are trialling a self-checkout shopping trolley that enables customers to select and scan items while they shop, compare products and receive personalised recommendations via an on-cart screen, and pay for their purchases by inserting or tapping their payments card without visiting a checkout... More
Ikea introduces scan-and-go mobile checkout in Australia
Customers at two Ikea outlets in Brisbane, Australia, can now use their mobile device to scan the products they want to buy while they shop and then pay on their way out without needing to unload and reload their shopping cart at the checkout... More
Apple delays rollout of digital IDs in Wallet until early 2022
Apple is delaying the release of the feature that will enable users to store digital identity documents such as their driving licence in Wallet until “early 2022”, updates to its iOS15 and watchOS 8 web pages reveal... More
Researchers use extended-range NFC to develop smart fabric for multiple use cases
Engineers at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) in the US have used extended-range NFC to produce a battery-free smart fabric that could enable items of clothing to communicate with each other and with nearby electronic devices at distances of “more than four feet”... More
US region to get blockchain-powered local digital currency
Consumers in the Berkshires region of western Massachusetts in the US will soon be able to make in-store and online purchases and carry out person-to-person transactions using a digital version of the BerkShares local currency... More
British Standards Institute unveils NFC digital ID system for construction products
The British Standards Institute (BSI) has launched a digital object identification (DOI) system that enables users to access information about individual building products and verify their origin and identity at every stage of the supply chain and construction process by scanning an NFC/RFID tag or QR code... More
Researchers develop ultra-thin ‘computer on the bone’ using NFC for bone health monitoring
Researchers at the University of Arizona in the US have developed an ultra-thin NFC sensor that could be directly attached to human bone and enable physicians to monitor a patient’s bone health and healing from fractures and other traumatic injuries... More
Starbucks and Amazon open joint checkout-free outlet in New York
Customers using a combined Starbucks Pickup and Amazon Go outlet in Manhattan, New York City, can now collect beverages purchased via the Starbucks app and then opt to enter a checkout-free “contactless market” and lounge area by scanning an “in-store code” in their Amazon Shopping app or their credit card... More
More than 700 UK railway stations to get contactless ticketing
Passengers travelling on train services in England will soon be able to make contactless fare payments with their debit or credit card at more than 700 railway stations across the North and Midlands... More