MasterCard is currently conducting more than 25 host card emulation (HCE) projects in 15 countries, the payments network has announced, with multiple issuers now moving close to commercial deployments... More
Australia
Australia to get Visa tokens in 2015
Australia is to become the second country after the US in which Visa Inc will roll out tokenization... More
Nintendo sells 5.7m NFC figurines
The US and Canada accounted for 63% of a total 5.7m NFC-enabled Nintendo Amiibo figurines sold at the end of 2014, followed by Europe in second place with 23%, Japan with 11% and Australia with 3%... More
Suncorp to offer NFC payments
Australia’s Suncorp Bank is to make NFC payments available to customers on select Android devices in 2015, Computerworld Australia reports... More
Westpac adds fingerprint access
Westpac customers with an Apple iPhone, Samsung Galaxy S5 or Note 4 incorporating a fingerprint sensor will be able to use the technology to log into their mobile banking app from January 2015, the Australian bank has announced... More
Melbourne beacon trial disappoints
Arts Centre Melbourne is rethinking its approach to using Bluetooth beacons after a disappointing pilot that used the technology to send out food and beverage offers to visitors during October’s Melbourne Festival... More
Optus launches NFC payments in Australia
Australian carrier Optus has teamed up with Visa and Heritage Bank to launch an NFC mobile payment service that lets customers load up to A$500 into a prepaid account and then make payments at any Visa contactless POS terminal... More
ANZ to launch NFC wallet
Australia’s ANZ is to launch an NFC-enabled mobile wallet in early 2015, following a successful trial of the service... More
Aston Club reaches 22,000 users
Australian mobile payment startup Aston Club has revealed it has signed up more than 22,000 users since its launch last year and is now being accepted in over 260 hospitality venues across the country... More
ALH rolls out Clipp mobile payments to 300 pubs across Australia
ALH Group, operator of more than 300 pubs in Australia, is to introduce a mobile payment service developed by Clipp that allows customers to “open, view, share and pay their bar tab or restaurant bill securely and instantly.”... More
Melbourne Cricket Club equips roving snack vendors with Bluetooth beacons
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons are being attached to the trays of roving snack and drink vendors for football matches taking place at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Australia this month... More
St George adds fingerprint security to mobile banking app
Customers of Australia’s St George Bank will be able to use the Touch ID fingerprint verification technology built into the iPhone 5S to log into mobile banking when iOS8 launches in September... More
Nestle runs NFC marketing campaign in 480 Woolworth stores across Australia
Shelf banners equipped with NFC tags have been placed in Woolworths supermarkets across Australia to promote food giant Nestle’s new Oats and Strawberries breakfast cereal... More
Visa Inc abandons digital wallet ambitions, Visa Europe to continue investing
Visa Inc is replacing its V.me digital wallet service with Visa Checkout, a new payment service that enables consumers in the US, Canada and Australia to pay for goods online, on any device, in “just a few clicks”... More
Australian supermarket chain launches mobile wallet that works with NFC stickers
Australian supermarket chain Coles has launched the Coles Mobile Wallet, an iOS and Android app that works in conjunction with an NFC sticker to provide customers with a way to make mobile payments, manage their spending, collect loyalty points and access special offers... More
Australian credit union launches HCE payments
CUA, Australia’s largest customer-owned financial institution, has become the first in the Asia Pacific region to launch an NFC payments service that makes use of host card emulation (HCE) technology... More
Tapit powers Google I/O and Game of Thrones NFC promotions
NFC marketing platform provider Tapit has run two high-profile campaigns with Google in recent weeks... More
Bendigo Bank launches QR code mobile payments in Australia
Australia’s Bendigo Bank has partnered with Samsung to rollout Redy, a mobile payments service that lets shoppers make payments and receive rewards by scanning a QR code generated by a merchant’s tablet-based POS terminal... More
Telstra uses NFC to cut costs and improve customer service for broadband users
Australian telecommunications provider Telstra is now applying NFC tags to all its broadband modems, enabling customers to access personalised help, information and support recommendations by tapping the tag with their NFC phone... More
PayPal tests beacons
PayPal Beacon, a mobile payment service that uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons to let shoppers make “hands free” payments, is now undergoing pilot testing in Palo Alto... More