More than 200 million customers have bound their bank cards to internet giant Tencent’s QQ Wallet and Weixin Pay mobile payment platforms, the company has revealed — but supporting them is proving costly... More
China
G&D provides NFC chip and operating system for Swatch smartwatch
PARTNER NEWS: Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) is providing the embedded smart card chip and operating system used in the NFC contactless payment smartwatch launched by Swatch in China last month... More
Shenzhen Tong launches NFC transport and payment service in China
ZTE Nubia Z9 and Z9 Max owners across the Chinese city of Shenzhen can now use a service launched by transportation operator Shenzhen Tong to make NFC mobile payments for public transportation and for purchases in retail stores... More
AMS unveils NFC chip and antenna for adding payments and ticketing to wearable devices
PARTNER NEWS: Chip maker AMS has introduced an NFC payments and ticketing solution for manufacturers of smartwatches, wristbands and other small devices that only have room for an extremely small antenna... More
Swatch launches NFC payment watch in China
Swiss watchmaker Swatch has launched an NFC watch in China in partnership with China UnionPay and Bank of Communications that will let consumers make payments with a tap of their wrist in stores across the country. More
Samsung responds to LoopPay hack
Samsung has responded to a New York Times report that claimed a hacking group affiliated with the Chinese government penetrated the corporate network of LoopPay, the inventor of Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology that was acquired in February to form a core part of Samsung Pay... More
Industry veterans seek funding for NFC payments ring
A team of NFC payments veterans has launched a campaign on Kickstarter to raise funds for an NFC ring that can be used to make payments at contactless POS terminals and across the Transport for London network. More
Alibaba and Ant Financial make “strategic investment” in India’s Paytm
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and its affiliate Ant Financial are to make a “strategic investment” believed to be worth some US$680m in Indian mobile payment platform Paytm through an agreement with its parent company One97 Communications... More
China’s FiiSmart to develop smartwatch that supports Alipay
Shenzhen-based wearable device maker FiiSmart has launched a campaign on ecommerce giant Alibaba’s Taobao Crowdfunding website for a smartwatch that will support Ant Financial’s mobile payment platform Alipay and allow its wearers to make payments by generating a QR-code that can then be scanned at the point-of-sale... More
McDonald’s to accept Alipay in more than 2,100 restaurants in China
Chinese customers of fast food chain McDonald’s will soon be able to use Ant Financial’s Alipay QR code mobile payment platform to pay for their food and drink in more than 2,100 restaurants... More
Korean Samsung Pay users spend $30m in first month of launch
More than US$30m has been spent through Samsung Pay since the mobile payment service’s launch in Korea one month ago, Samsung has revealed... More
Pizza Hut installs Bluetooth beacons at 1,471 locations in China
Some 1,471 Pizza Hut restaurants in mainland China have installed Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons from Sensoro to send out coupons, WeChat movie ticket prizes, special offers and discounts directly to customers’ smartphones... More
Apple Pay nears China launch?
Apple has reportedly set up a new company called Apple Technology Services (Shanghai) to bring Apple Pay to China... More
Cyber Group and Sensoro roll out beacons across Greater China
Chinese chain store operator Cyber Group has launched a joint venture with beacon platform provider Sensoro to roll out Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons across Japan and the Greater China region... More
NFC Forum adds new members
The NFC Forum has added new associate, implementer and non-profit members, following the recent addition of Apple as a sponsor member... More
LG U+ to issue UnionPay mobile credit cards in China
Korean mobile network operator LG U+ will issue UnionPay mobile credit cards and payment services in China, in partnership with KB Kookmin Card, from next month... More
China moves to open up mobile payments services
People’s Bank of China has proposed new regulations that could force internet companies Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu to offer each others’ online payment services alongside their own... More
Visa signs up 2,300 financial institutions for Visa Token Service
More than 2,300 financial institutions and banking partners have now signed up for Visa’s tokenization service with international expansion set to happen “in the fall”, Visa has revealed during a third quarter earnings call... More
Three in four consumers interested in using alternatives to passwords online
One in six consumers find usernames and passwords “cumbersome” and 77% are interested in using alternatives to protect their security on the internet, research from Accenture reveals... More
Lenovo adds eSE to new smartphones
Lenovo is to equip its new smartphones in China with Oberthur Technologies’ (OT) Pearl embedded secure element (eSE) to offer mobile payment and transport services... More