Customers of Orange Bank in Spain will now be automatically issued with a digital debit card that they can use to instantly begin making mobile payments both online and in-store — and can also request a companion physical card that comes without a printed card number, CVC code or expiration date... More
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
Spain’s CaixaBank is to deploy ATMs equipped with facial recognition technology nationwide “with the goal of offering a better user experience and greater security in transactions, particularly in the context of Covid-19”... More
Spanish football team Real Sociedad is to include NFC tags in its 2020/21 season supporter shirts “to open up new sponsorship opportunities by connecting fans with partner brands”... More
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
Updated 28 May: Countries around the world are increasing the contactless transaction limit in a bid to combat the spread of Covid-19... More
Mastercard is now working with 29 countries across Europe and central Asia to implement increases to their contactless payment transaction limit, the payments network says... More
Visa has unveiled Tap to Phone, a new software-only solution that enables merchants to accept contactless payments on Android NFC mobile phones, without the need for any additional hardware... More
Customers of Deutsche Bank in Spain can now apply for a card that replaces the traditional, printed CVV number with a small screen integrated into the back of the card that displays a new CVV every four hours... More
Orange Bank launches in Spain — Orange — “Orange Bank in Spain will be 100% mobile based, offering Orange customers a choice of savings account, cheque account, Mastercard debit card, group management, as well as discounts on Orange phone bills.”
Food giant Nestlé is testing face recognition payments at Nestlé Market, a concept supermarket in Barcelona, Spain, that stocks the company’s established brands as well as the latest additions to its range... More
Spain’s CaixaBank has unveiled ‘all in one’, a 3,000sqm bank branch in Barcelona that showcases the latest financial technology experiences — including NFC check-ins and facial recognition ATMs... More
China remains the country with by far the highest mobile payments adoption rate, with 81.1% of smartphone owners making use of the technology, eMarketer reports... More
Madrid public transportation operator EMT has announced plans to run two next-generation transportation payments pilots... More
Catalonia, the semi-autonomous region of Spain which includes the city of Barcelona, is to develop an electronic identity platform that “turns the citizen into owner, manager and exclusive custodian of his identity and data”... More
One million CaixaBank customers are now using their mobile phone to make in-store payments, up 87% on this time last year, and 100,000 customers are making payments using wearable devices, the Spanish bank has reported... More
Amazon launches Transparency in Europe, India and Canada — Amazon — “Transparency is a product serialisation service that provides a unique code for every unit that is manufactured. Brands put these codes on its products and every time one of these products is ordered in Amazon’s stores, Amazon scans and verifies the code to ensure only authentic units reach customers. Additionally, customers can use a mobile app to scan the code and verify authenticity regardless of where they purchased their units. Brands can also use Transparency to communicate unique unit-level information, including manufacturing date, manufacturing place, or other enhanced product information (eg ingredients).”
Six European mobile wallet providers — Bluecode (Austria), ePassi (Finland), Momo Pocket (Spain), Pagaqui (Portugal), Pivo (Finland) and Vipps (Norway) — have adopted a QR code format from Chinese payment provider Alipay to ensure digital payment interoperability and improve the international reach of customers’ wallets as well as boosting sales, participants have told NFCW... More
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
CaixaBank, the world’s first bank to use facial recognition to withdraw cash at ATMs — CaixaBank — “CaixaBank has become the world’s first financial institution to offer its customers the ability to use facial recognition to withdraw cash from ATMs, without having to enter their PIN… CaixaBank now has this verification system in place in four Store branches in Barcelona, with a total of 20 terminals. The company plans to progressively expand facial recognition across its Store offices from the second half of 2019.”
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