Table: Contactless payment transaction limit increases around the world
Countries around the world are increasing the contactless transaction limit in a bid to combat the spread of Covid-19... More
Sweden
Mastercard: 29 countries have now agreed to raise their contactless payment limit
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
Sweden begins central bank digital currency pilot
Sweden’s central bank The Riksbank has begun testing a digital currency designed to enable consumers to store an electronic version of the Swedish krona in a digital wallet and make payments, deposits and withdrawals using a mobile app... More
Visa CEO shares contactless, tokenization, transit and secure remote commerce adoption data
Data on the latest adoption rates for contactless transactions, tokenization, transit payments and secure remote commerce has been made available by Visa CEO Al Kelly — along with details of the revenue model to be used by Plaid, which Visa is to acquire for $5.3bn... More
Central banks set up digital currency group
The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Sveriges Riksbank and the Swiss National Bank, together with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), are to work together “to assess potential cases for central bank digital currencies”... More
Sweden’s central bank to test digital currency
Riksbank develops an e-krona in a test environment — Riksbank — “During the first year of the e-krona pilot project, a technical platform will be developed with a user interface that enables, for instance, payment with the e-krona from a mobile phone, a card and a watch. The platform will also contain simulations of payment service providers, retail outlets and other parts of the Swedish payment system.”
Mastercard reports on wearable payments adoption
The volume of transactions made using wearable devices has seen an eightfold increase in Europe over the past 12 months, Mastercard reports, while Australia tops the list of countries where most wearable payments are now being made.... More
eMarketer identifies top countries for mobile payments adoption
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
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
Nordic banks to launch KYC platform venture
The collaboration of six Nordic banks results in a joint KYC company — SEB Group — “The joint venture company is preparing for its first commercial launch in 2020. The company is autonomous and will initially offer KYC services to the market concerning large and medium-sized companies based in the Nordic region.”
Swish pilots Bluetooth boxes for mobile payments in Swedish stores
Swedish P2P and online payments app Swish is moving into in-store payments with a pilot test of a Bluetooth box that can be added to merchants’ existing POS terminals to deliver “an NFC-like ‘tap and pay’ experience”... More
Swedish banks roll out wearable payments on fashion watches
Customers of Swedbank and Nordea Bank in Sweden are now able to load a Mastercard onto any of a range of fashion watches offered by three local watch brands and then use it to make wearable payments at any Mastercard merchant... More
Google Pay rolls out across Scandinavia
Google Pay is now live in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland, with support from Jyske Bank, Nordea and Revolut in Denmark, Nordea, Revolut, Monobank, Storebrand Bank and Sparebanken Sør in Norway, Nordea, Revolut, Länsförsäkringar Bank and Sodexo in Sweden and Nordea, Revolut and Edenred in Finland... More
Nordic banks to build new payments infrastructure for instant cross-border payments
Banks are building a super-speed money highway in the Nordics — Bloomberg — “The P27 project — so-called for the 27 million people who live in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland — will build on the success of smartphone payment applications that Nordic banks have already created, like Swish in Sweden, Norway’s Vipps, and MobilePay in Denmark… The aim is to make it possible to clear payments and settle accounts within seconds, regardless of currency.”
Copenhagen Business School lets students make payments with just their finger — no card or smartphone required
Pay with the touch of a finger — Nets — “Now, students and visitors at Copenhagen Business School (CBS) can leave their cash, cards and smartphones behind and buy lunch using just their finger… The payment process is very much like other contactless payments but the increased security creates one key difference — even high-value transactions do not require the extra step of PIN entry.”
Swedish central bank issues cashless society warning
‘Being cash-free puts us at risk of attack’: Swedes turn against cashlessness — The Guardian — “The Riksbank governor, Stefan Ingves, called for new legislation to secure public control over the payments system, arguing that being able to make and receive payments is a ‘collective good’ like defence, the courts, or public statistics… ‘It should be obvious that Sweden’s preparedness would be weakened if, in a serious crisis or war, we had not decided in advance how households and companies would pay for fuel, supplies and other necessities.’”
One in five Brits to make mobile payments in stores this year
UK: Mobile payments still looking to grab a foothold — eMarketer — “Just over 22% of UK smartphone users will use a phone to pay for goods and services at the point of sale (POS) in 2018… China has the largest mobile proximity payments market in the world, with 77.5% of smartphone users doing so this year. Within Europe, the UK’s smartphone penetration rate will rank behind Norway (23.3%), Sweden (33.8%) and Denmark (38.9%) in 2018.”
Apple Pay goes live in Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the UAE
Apple Pay Launches in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and UAE — MacRumors — “In Denmark, Jyske Bank (Visa debit cards only) and Nordea are supporting Apple Pay. In Finland and Sweden, Apple Pay can be used with debit and credit cards from Nordea and ST1. Edenred and N26 support will be coming soon to Finland, while Ticket Rikskuponger will support Apple Pay in Sweden in the near future. In United Arab Emirates, the following banks and cards work with Apple Pay: Emirates Islamic (Visa credit, debit, and prepaid cards), Emirates NBD, HSBC (Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards), Mashreq, Rakbank (Mastercard credit, debit, and prepaid cards), Standard Chartered Bank”.
Apple Pay reaches 20 countries, representing 70% of the world’s card transaction volume
Apple Pay now in 20 markets, nabs 90% of all mobile contactless transactions where active — Techcrunch — “Bailey also announced that the service is launching in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and the UAE in the next few days, bringing the total number of countries where it is used up to 20. And she said that 4,000 issuers worldwide now work with the wallet… While these may not sound like massive numbers on their own, 20 markets represents a full 70% of the world’s card transaction volume, she noted.”
Apple Pay to go live in Scandinavia next week?
Exclusive: Apple Pay to be launched in Sweden, Finland and Denmark next week — MacPro — “According to several sources familiar with the matter, Apple will launch Apple Pay next week in Sweden, Denmark and Finland. In Sweden, Apple is working with Nordea, a Nordic bank with its headquarters in Sweden. Which bank or banks that will partner with Apple in Denmark and Finland is yet unknown.”
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