“Globally, Visa now has more than 500 active transit projects and has helped a number of cities launch tap to pay solutions over the course of the pandemic,” the payments network has revealed... More
Belgium
STIB switches on contactless payments across Brussels
Public transportation users in Brussels can now use their contactless bank card, NFC mobile phone or smart watch to pay for their fares on any of the city’s bus, tram and metro services... More
European banks to create cross-border instant payments system
Sixteen major European banks have announced plans to jointly create a new company that will be tasked with delivering “a seamless, competitive and unified payment solution” for in-store, online and P2P payments across Europe... More
Stocard picks Dejamobile to add payments to mobile loyalty app
PARTNER NEWS: European mobile loyalty wallet leader Stocard has added support for NFC payments to its app as it looks to evolve its digital wallet into an all-in-one payments, banking and shopping service... More
PayPal rolls out QR payments to 28 countries around the world
PayPal users in 28 countries across the world are now able to use their PayPal app to make QR code-based mobile payments in stores — and standard seller transaction fees are being waived “for a limited time” for merchants using the new functionality... More
Belgian consumers double their use of contactless payments
Coronavirus has a major impact on our payment behaviour — Febelfin (translation) — “Since the limits increased, more than one in four card payments are handled contactlessly. 29% of card payments were made via contactless in April. This represents a doubling compared to February of this year (16%).”
Belgium increases contactless transaction limit to €50
Belgium is to increase the contactless transaction limit from €25 ($US27.07) to €50 ($US54.54) from 14 April, “to curb the spread of the coronavirus.”... More
Table: Contactless payment transaction limit increases around the world
Updated 30 January 2023 Countries around the world are increasing the contactless transaction limit in a bid to lower cash usage to combat the spread of Covid-19... More
STIB tests contactless bank cards on Brussels Metro
STIB testing use of bank card as metro ticket at entrance gates — The Brussels Times — “STIB is testing a new system of contactless payment at metro station Parc/Park to allow travellers to directly scan their bank card, instead of a ticket, at the gates. If everything goes well, all other metro stops, as well as the electric buses on bus line 33, will be fitted out with the contactless system over the next few months.”
Ahold Delhaize to roll out NFC shelf edge labels in supermarkets across Europe
European supermarket group Ahold Delhaize is to equip its stores in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Greece, Czech Republic, Serbia and Romania with NFC-enabled electronic shelf edge labels that shoppers can tap to obtain more information about a product — and then add the items to their shopping basket so that they can self-checkout on their mobile phone... More
Mobile payments providers team up to let customers make QR payments across Europe
A group of seven mobile payments service providers with a combined user base of 25 million people in nine European countries have formed a new association to deliver “interoperability of the mobile payment systems across national borders”... More
Benelux banks raise €20m to turn Payconiq mobile payments app into European rival to Visa and Mastercard
Mobile payments app Payconiq wants to expand in Europe — Ecommerce News Europe — “Our solution is, unlike the well-known payment methods, not dependent on the credit card companies. I don’t see why we couldn’t become the European alternative to Visa or Mastercard. Technically, we are ahead of them.”
Report highlights discrepancies between what technology users want and what they adopt
Despite greater than ever use of smart devices for banking and payments and a desire for the latest technologies, Europeans are some of the most cautious adopters, according to a survey of 15,000 consumers in Europe, America and Australia... More
KBC reports on take-up of non-banking services following wearables payments trial expansion
Belgian bank KBC has reported on the take-up of the non-banking services such as car parking and transit ticketing that it has been adding to its mobile banking app since launching it last summer... More
KBC app enables customers to link number plates for easy parking payment
Belgian Bank KBC has added two new services to its mobile banking app enabling customers to pay automatically for car parking and to hire bicycles... More
Belgian banks roll out mobile payments app that supports both NFC and QR codes
A mobile payments app that supports contactless payment via NFC and both static and dynamic QR codes has been launched in Belgium... More
Belgian transit operator to deploy open loop multimodal mobility-as-a-service platform
Flanders public transport operator De Lijn selects Conduent Transportation to deploy next-generation fare collection system — Conduent — “The first phase will enable the use of contactless public transport operator payment cards and bank cards based on the cEMV (contactless Europay, MasterCard and Visa), aggregated pay-as-you-go transit model 2… A future phase of the platform will support mobility-as-a-service with the integration of various mobility providers such as car sharing, bike hire and taxis.”
Apple Pay goes live in Belgium and Kazakhstan
Apple Pay now available in Belgium and Kazakhstan — AppleInsider — “For the moment, Apple Pay is exclusive to BNP Paribas Fortis, along with its subsidiaries Hello Bank and Fintro, for both Mastercard and Visa-based cards… The support for Apple Pay in Kazakhstan has started with Eurasian Bank for Mastercard customers. Apple’s list of participating banks and credit issuers that support Apple Pay also includes ATFBank, Halyk Bank, Sberbank, Bank CenterCredit, and ForteBank.”
KBC to pilot multiple wearable payments options
Belgian bank KBC is inviting customers to take part in a year-long wearable payments pilot, with each being offered the choice of testing an NFC-enabled ring, keyfob, wristband or watch... More
Report: Apple Pay to launch in Belgium ‘in November’
Apple Pay will go live in Belgium this month, local news service De Tijd reports, eighteen months after Google Pay launched in the country... More