Westpac has become the first of Australia’s big four banks to begin supporting Samsung Pay, taking the service to “millions of Westpac Mastercard and Visa debit and credit cardholders” following its launch in the country with support from American Express and Citibank in June 2016... More
Australia
Westpac claims ACCC ruling “stifles innovation”
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) decision to rule against a group of banks seeking access to the NFC technology within Apple’s iPhones “stifles innovation” from the banks and other players in the market, according to Westpac’s Dave Curran... More
ANZ raises mobile transaction limit with voice authentication
Customers of Australia’s ANZ bank will soon be able to make higher value transactions on their mobile devices by authenticating the payment using their voice... More
Samsung Pay opens early access phase in the UAE
Samsung Pay has launched an early access program in the UAE with support from Mastercard and Visa and a number of banks including Mashreq Bank, ADCB, Rakbank, Emirates NBD, Standard Chartered and NBAD... More
Australian banks lose fight to gain access to NFC functionality in Apple iPhones
The group of Australian banks seeking stronger negotiating powers with Apple over the NFC technology within its iPhone handsets have been denied access to it by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on the grounds that the proposed conduct would “reduce or distort competition in a number of markets” and that the benefits are “outweighed by the detriments”. More
Samsung Pay expands on online payments plan
Samsung Pay will be available for online payments at “hundreds of thousands of merchants around the world” where Visa Checkout is accepted later this year. The news follows an announcement by the company’s Justin Denison at Samsung Unpacked 2017 last week that the service was heading online through “strategic partnerships”. More
Apple Pay goes live in Taiwan with support from seven banks
Apple Pay has launched in Taiwan with support from Mastercard, Visa and seven banks including Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank, Cathay United Bank, E.Sun Commercial Bank, Taishin International Bank, CTBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Union Bank of Taiwan. More
Square arrives in the UK
Mobile POS provider Square has launched in the UK... More
Westpac launches payments keyboard for chat apps
Customers of Australian bank Westpac will soon be able to use an innovative replacement for the default keyboard found in social messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp to make P2P money transfers to friends, family and businesses as well as send cardless cash codes to recipients for ATM withdrawals. More
Samsung Pay goes live across India with support for Paytm and UPI money transfers
Samsung Pay has launched in India with support from Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI Cards and Standard Chartered Bank, with Citibank India support expected “shortly”. The service has also integrated India’s leading mobile wallet Paytm and comes with support for peer-to-peer money transfers through the Indian government’s Unified Payments Interface platform. More
Australian banks brand non-NFC alternatives to Apple Pay ‘unrealistic’
Relying on Android or alternatives to NFC for successful mobile payment services in a country with one of the world’s largest iPhone market shares and high contactless card use is “unrealistic”, the group of Australian banks seeking access to the iPhone’s NFC functionality say in their latest submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)... More
Sweden becomes first Nordic country to get Samsung Pay
Samsung Pay has launched in beta across Sweden, the first Nordic country to see the mobile payment service rolled out, with support from debit and credit card providers Mastercard, Mastercard SAS, Visa, Eurocard, and banks Nordea and SEB... More
Belgium becomes tenth country to go live with Android Pay
Android Pay has launched in Belgium with support for Mastercard and Visa credit cards from BNP Paribas Fortis, Hello Bank... More
Apple Pay goes live in Ireland with support from Mastercard, Visa and two banks
Apple Pay has been launched across Ireland with support from Mastercard, Visa, KBC and Ulster Bank, allowing customers to make in-store, online and in-app payments using their compatible devices... More
Cook: Apple Pay has “hit an air pocket”
Apple CEO Tim Cook told attendees at the company’s annual shareholder meeting this week that Apple Pay “hit an air pocket” this year with adoption in the US trailing other countries, such as China and Australia, where NFC is more broadly available, AppleInsider reports from the event... More
Mastercard adds bar tab feature to Qkr! mobile payments app
Mastercard has unveiled a new feature for its Qkr... More
Google Assistant comes to more Android phones
Google Assistant will be made available to all phones running Android 7.0 Nougat and Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating systems, Reuters reports... More
Samsung Pay goes live in Malaysia
Samsung Pay has begun rolling out in Malaysia with support from CIMB, Citibank and Standard Chartered, with Hong Leong Bank coming soon... More
ING Direct and Macquarie support Apple Pay in Australia
ING Direct and Macquarie Bank are now rolling out support for Apple Pay in Australia, with 47 financial institutions now supporting the mobile payments service in the country... More
Australian banks drop Apple Pay fee request to focus on iPhone NFC access
The group of Australian banks arguing for the right to collectively negotiate with Apple over the introduction of Apple Pay in the country have dropped their request to jointly arrange how to “pass-through” additional fees Apple imposes on its mobile payment service, and will now focus solely on gaining access to the NFC functionality within the iPhone... More