Apple is to add a feature to iOS 16 that will enable iPhone users to securely share NFC digital car, house, workplace and hotel room keys held in Wallet with colleagues, friends and family via messaging apps such as Messages, Mail and WhatsApp... More
iPhone and Apple Watch users in the US can now verify their identity in third-party apps with their digital driving licence or state ID card stored in Wallet... More
Apple iPhone users can now check public transport fares and add transit cards to Wallet as well as check and replenish an existing card balance directly from Maps... More
Global contactless transaction values will reach US$10tn by 2027, up from US$4.6tn in 2022, with contactless mobile and wearable payments expected to grow by 221% and contactless card payments by 119% over the same period, according to a Juniper Research forecast... More
A slide deck and video recording of EMVCo’s keynote presentation at Contactless World Congress on the future of contactless payments are now available to access free of charge in the NFCW Knowledge Centre... More
Researchers at the University of Glasgow in the UK have developed a hybrid technique for “robustly” integrating solid NFC chips with printed circuits on flexible materials such as fabric and paper that could “extend the effective use of flexible electronics in applications such as smart tags, IoT wearables, robotics, ultrathin displays, healthcare and so on” by enabling the development of active tags... More
Customers purchasing special anniversary gift boxes of Chinese tea brand Halfism’s Fuding white tea can now verify their purchase is genuine, access detailed product information and receive coupons towards future purchases by scanning an NFC tag embedded in the product’s packaging with their NFC smartphone... More
Dutch retail chain Hema is to trial a software-only point-of-sale (sPOS) solution that enables staff to accept contactless payments on any Android smartphone or tablet without needing any additional hardware or accessories... More
Luxury fashion brand Balmain Paris has added NFC tags to jackets and patches in its Balmain x Pokémon range that enable purchasers to unlock rewards and access an immersive digital experience by tapping the tag with their Apple or Android NFC smartphone... More
Danish public transport fare system provider Rejsekort & Rejseplan (RKRP) is trialling a hands-free automated app-based mobile ticketing system on bus and train services in Denmark’s North Jutland region as part of plans to develop a national digital mobility solution combining travel planning, booking, ticketing and payment across private and public modes of transport... More
More than 710,000 Greek citizens have used the Greek government’s Gov.gr Wallet app to create and store a digital version of their national identity card on their smartphone and more than 563,000 have used it to generate a digital version of their driving licence since the service went live last month... More
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
