LG U+ to offer blockchain-based overseas payment service — The Korea Herald — “Once the service is launched, LG U+ subscribers will be able to buy things at selected retailers using their mobile phones when they travel to Taiwan and Japan. Far EasTone subscribers will also be able to enjoy the same convenience when traveling to Korea and Japan. The service uses direct carrier billing, enabling transactions to be billed and paid through their carrier in their home currency.”
Taiwan
UnionPay promotes mobile payments adoption with discounts at merchants around the world
UnionPay International launches its biggest-scale summer marketing campaign — UnionPay — “Merchants in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Japan, Russia, Australia and other countries and regions are providing discounts for UnionPay mobile QuickPass. For instance, customers can purchase Aeroexpress ticket in Moscow for only one ruble. Secondly, customers can download u-plan e-coupons that can be used at about 6,000 merchant locations in 17 countries and regions via the app to enjoy the best discount in-store. Thirdly, the app users can check about merchant offers, card-using tips, tax refund guides and other practical information.”
JCB expands Apple Pay support to Taiwan
Apple Pay coming to JCB’s customers in Taiwan — JCB — “Support for Apple Pay will start with E.Sun Bank and Union Bank of Taiwan and continue to be phased in for other JCB brand payment product issuers… Taiwan is the first market after Japan where JCB is supporting Apple Pay.”
Line Pay tops mobile payments adoption poll in Taiwan
Line Pay top mobile payment system in Taiwan: Survey — Focus Taiwan — “25.2% of respondents who used mobile payment systems favoured Line Pay, ahead of Apple Pay provided by Apple Inc which was used by 17.9% of those surveyed. The survey found Jko Pay provided by Taiwan’s Jkos Network Co came in third, taking a 10.9% share, followed by Android Pay operated by Google Inc with 9.9% share, and E Sun Wallet provided by E Sun Commercial Bank with 5.2%.”
Tencent opens up WeChat Pay to overseas credit card holders
WeChat Pay now allows users to bind overseas credit cards — Technode — “Expats living in China and residents of Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan — places where WeChat is ambitiously expanding its user base — can now bind and activate WeChat Pay accounts with credit card services provided by MasterCard, Visa, and JCB… This is the first time users are able to use WeChat Pay without having a Chinese bank account or credit card.”
Taiwan to provide mobile payment adoption incentives
Taiwan outlines measures to promote mobile payment usage — Focus Taiwan — “Premier Lai Ching-te on Tuesday urged government agencies to earmark spending to subsidize transaction fees in a way that makes the use of mobile payments for in-store purchases more attractive to consumers… The government has set itself the target of 90% of mobile phone users using mobile payments by 2025, a major increase from the current level of 13%.”
Banks back government-led Taiwan Pay QR payments service
Banks offer ministry’s Taiwan Pay services — Taipei Times — “Taiwan Pay aims to provide more convenient, quicker payment services using QR code technology via smartphones, which have become a necessity in daily life,” deputy minister of finance Su Jain-rong told a news conference… The ministry spearheaded the development of Taiwan Pay to help the nation become a regional technology hub and to compete with Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay.”
EMVCo-specified universal QR code to be introduced in 4Q17
EMVCo-specified universal QR code to be introduced in 4Q17 — Digitimes — “EMVCo is specifying a universal QR code to facilitate tokenized mobile payments, and the global standard QR code is expected to be introduced to the Taiwan market in the fourth quarter of 2017, with prevailing use to kick off by the end of 2018 at the earliest, according to Visa Taiwan country manager Macro Ma.”
Android Pay goes live in Taiwan with CTBC and First Bank
Android Pay has launched in Taiwan, taking the mobile payment service to a total of 13 markets following its debut in Canada earlier this week... More
McDonald’s Taiwan launches smart cards
McDonald’s Taiwan launches smart cards — Taiwan News — “McDonald’s Taiwan is launching new stored-value cards which can accumulate points to exchange for menu items… Each purchase of NT$10 (US$.33) will result in the the accumulation of one point and with a certain number of points, the holder can obtain a menu item for free and discounts of up to 15%.”
Samsung Pay rolls out across Hong Kong following early access launch
Samsung Pay has gone live in Hong Kong with support from Mastercard, Visa and American Express and banks including Bank of China (Hong Kong), Citibank, DahSing Bank, DBS and Standard Chartered. The launch takes the mobile payment service to a total of 17 markets globally and follows its debut in Taiwan earlier this month. More
Android Pay enters 11th global market with launch in Russia
Google has launched its Android Pay mobile payments service in Russia, allowing those with eligible Visa and Mastercard credit or debit cards issued from 15 supporting banks and financial institutions to make in-store and in-app payments using their compatible mobile devices. More
Samsung Pay goes live in Taiwan with seven banks
Samsung Pay has been launched across Taiwan with support from Visa and Mastercard along with seven major banks including Citibank, Cathay United Bank, E.Sun Commercial Bank, Taishin International Bank, Fubon Bank, Union Bank of Taiwan and Standard Chartered. The service supports iris scan authentication for those with Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ devices. More
CTBC aims to be one of first banks to provide Android Pay services
CTBC aims to be one of first banks to provide Android Pay services — Focus Taiwan — “CTBC Bank is among the Taiwanese banks gearing up to provide Android Pay services, which could be launched in the local market in June. Other candidates for the new service include First Commercial Bank and Bank SinoPac.”
Android Pay gets improved loyalty features and eases redemption at the point of sale
Google has unveiled a range of new features for Android Pay designed to make it easier for users to save their loyalty cards to the mobile payment service and use Android Pay’s Smart Tap technology to redeem points and offers at the point of sale through a single tap of their NFC device. More
Android Pay continues international expansion
Android Pay will be rolled out to a number of additional countries including Brazil, Canada, Russia, Spain and Taiwan over the “coming months”, Google’s director of engineering for payment products Varouj Chitilian has revealed... More
Apple Pay launches in Italy with support from UniCredit and Carrefour Banca
Apple Pay has begun rolling out across Italy with support for Mastercard and Visa cards issued by Carrefour Banca and UniCredit, with American Express, CartaBCC, ExpendiaSmart, Fineco Bank, Hype, Banca Mediolanum, N26 and Widiba listed as “coming this year”. The launch takes Apple Pay to a total of 16 markets globally. More
Samsung Pay previews in Taiwan
Samsung Pay has launched in pilot in Taiwan ahead of an official roll-out expected on 23 May... More
Apple Pay transactions grew 450% in the last 12 months, Tim Cook reports
Apple Pay is experiencing “phenomenal traction”, with transaction volume up 450% over the last 12 months, Apple CEO Tim Cook has revealed. Monthly Apple Pay transactions have grown by nearly 300% in the last year across the UK, while in Japan more than half a million transit users are completing 20m Apple Pay transactions per month. More
Apple Pay gets positive start in Taiwan
Some 415,000 cards were registered to Apple Pay two days after it launched in Taiwan in March 2017, the Financial Supervisory Commission has revealed... More