Grab launches Asia’s first numberless card — Grab — “The physical version of the card is completely numberless, front and back, thus averting the prospect of theft of personal and financial information… The digital GrabPay Card is available in Singapore starting today… The digital GrabPay Card will be launched in the Philippines in Q1 2020, with other Southeast Asian countries to follow in the first half of next year.”
- India requires banks to let cardholders opt in to contactless payments
- Huawei Pay expands to Pakistan
- One million Brits now use open banking
- Venmo adds branded animated emojis to payment messages
- Central banks set up digital currency group
MUFG to use digital currency for mobile payments in Japan
MUFG digital currency finds second life as mobile payment — Nikkei Asian Review — “Users will convert funds from their bank accounts or elsewhere into the digital currency using a smartphone app. The service will use this currency in transactions, which will be handled through QR codes. Money sent via the app can be moved back into an account as cash, allowing for transfers between individuals.”
NatWest pilots biometric payments fob
UK bank NatWest is following its biometric payment card trials with a pilot of a biometric payment fob that lets customers make contactless payments for transactions valued at up to £100 (US$130)... More
Juniper forecasts 1,000% increase in use of biometrics to secure mobile payments
Biometrics to secure $2.5tn in mobile payments by 2024 — Juniper Research — “Biometric authentication will be used to secure US$2.5tn worth of mobile payment transactions by 2024, an increase of almost 1,000% on the US$228bn expected to be transacted through the method by the end of 2019.”
Mastercard reports on wearable payments adoption
The volume of transactions made using wearable devices has seen an eightfold increase in Europe over the past 12 months, Mastercard reports, while Australia tops the list of countries where most wearable payments are now being made. More
Hang Seng adds mobile cash withdrawals to Hong Kong ATMs
Hang Seng launches mobile cash withdrawal service — Hang Seng Bank — “Customers in Hong Kong can initiate cash withdrawal instructions on their mobile phones by using the Hang Seng Personal Banking mobile app and then collect their cash at the nearby Hang Seng ATM… At launch, all Hang Seng ATMs will support QR code cash withdrawals and over half will support both QR code and NFC cash withdrawals. NFC connectivity will be extended to all ATMs in the first half of 2020.”
Juniper forecasts mPOS transaction market
mPOS transaction values to exceed $1.9tn by 2024 — Juniper Research — “Juniper Research forecasts that mPOS (Mobile Points of Sale) transaction values will exceed US$1.9tn by 2024, up from $850bn in 2019. This growth will be driven by service adoption from new business users, including pop-up stores and street vendors, for whom the acceptance of card payments was previously inaccessible.”
Arion Bank picks Dejamobile for in-app NFC mobile payments
PARTNER NEWS: Iceland’s Arion Bank has added NFC mobile payments to its mobile banking app — a key step, the bank has told What’s New in Payments, towards achieving its goal of ensuring the app’s status as the country’s leading all-in-one mobile financial service... More
Russia’s domestic payments system to expand into Europe
Presentation of the first European acquirer of the Mir card scheme at the Russian-British business forum — Roscongress — “The ability to make transactions through the Russian system will simplify payment transactions for customers of companies that offer products or services in the Russian market and, as a result, increase their turnover. For the UK, which will be the first launch country, the Mir payment system opens up access to the Russian consumer market.”
Discover lets cardholders pay with points at PayPal merchants
Discover and PayPal collaboration gives cardmembers new way to redeem rewards — Discover Financial Services — “Discover cardmembers can now use their Cashback Bonus or Miles to pay for purchases at millions of online stores through PayPal… Once cardmembers link their Discover card with PayPal, they can instantly redeem any amount of their rewards on eligible purchases at checkout.”
Ant Financial to create $1bn fund for Asian payments and financial services startups
Ant Financial to raise a $1bn startup investment fund — Bloomberg — “Billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Financial is planning to raise about US$1bn for a fund that will invest in startups from Southeast Asia to India and help strengthen its foothold in fast-growing mobile internet markets, a person familiar with the matter said. The internet finance company is looking to back more startups in those regions that focus on payments and online finance.”
BMW lets drivers order meals from their cars
Olo and pilot brands experiment with in-car ordering trial — Olo — “The online ordering experience is designed for easy pre-configuration of orders, making saved favorites and repeat orders easy. Trial participants can order and pay with the push of a button and follow driving directions to pick up their orders… Nekter Juice Bar and Portillo’s Hot Dogs are the first live brands to participate in the in-car ordering pilot.”
Ghana to launch national QR mobile payments service in December
Govt to launch universal QR code to make Ghana cashless society — GhanaWeb — “The government will in December 2019 launch a Universal QR code in a bid to make Ghana a cashless society, vice president Dr Mahammudu Bawumia has announced. He says with the code which leverages existing technologies, traders and businesses will be able to receive payments without a point of sale device.”
Ahold Delhaize pilots unmanned store in the US
Netherlands-based supermarket giant Ahold Delhaize has opened Lunchbox, a low-cost cashierless store that lets consumers “shop a small format store in seconds by scanning in, shopping and walking out”... More
Central bank reports continued growth in Chinese mobile payments market
China mobile payments maintain rapid growth in Q3 — Xinhua — “Banks in the country processed 27.27bn mobile payment transactions in the period, up 61.05% year on year, said the People’s Bank of China in a report. The value of these transactions increased by 31.52% from the same period of last year to 86.11tn yuan (about US$12.2tn). Meanwhile, online payment transactions by the non-banking institutions were valued at 63.99tn yuan in Q3, up 23.04% year on year.”
Cornèr Banca issues biometric payment card
Swiss bank Cornèr Banca has launched a biometric payment card that lets customers make contactless payments without being restricted to the usual CHF40 (US$40) contactless transaction limit... More
Apple Pay goes live in Belarus
Apple Pay Belarus rollout begins today with BPS-Sberbank — 9to5Mac — “The Apple Pay Belarus rollout began today with the announcement of support by BPS-Sberbank… The bank says that both Visa and Mastercard are supported.”
Survey finds US consumers would switch to mobile payments to save money
Ibotta Holiday Shopping and Mobile Payments Study — Ibotta — “Of the 61% of survey respondents who have used their phones to make an in-store purchase, 63% are motivated by payment methods that offer rewards, rebates and cash back, while 55% would be inclined to adopt mobile payments if the solutions saved them money… More than half (52%) of these shoppers say they feel overwhelmed by the large number of mobile payments and rewards programmes.”
ABN Amro to shutter Android wallet app
Wallet app to be discontinued — ABN Amro — “Why will the Wallet app be discontinued? As it stands, the Wallet app is being used by less than 5% of our clients with an Android smartphone. That’s why we’re discontinuing the app.”
Bank of America adds face recognition to mobile banking app
Bank of America updates Android app to support Pixel 4 face unlock — 9to5Google — “Release notes for version 8.3.11 of Bank of America for Android prominently mentions the ‘Ability to sign in with face unlock (Pixel 4 only)’… After updating, you’ll need to enter your password one more time, and select the ‘Set up biometric sign-in’ checkbox. After completing BofA’s process, Pixel 4 face unlock will work on all subsequent sign-in attempts.”
