Busking goes cashless with ‘a world first’ for London — BBC — “London has introduced a contactless payment scheme for buskers in what the organisers claim is a world first. In addition to tossing loose change into a box, passers-by can use card readers to make contactless payments…The scheme will be be rolled out across the city after successful trials.”
United Kingdom
Challenger banks add location-based payments to mobile apps
UK banks are trying out location-based P2P payments — Tearsheet — “On Friday, Revolut introduced a feature called ‘Near Me’ which lets its customers find other Revolut customers using the same feature and send them money without knowing their contact details. On Monday, Monzo rolled out a capability called ‘Nearby Friends’… When the user opens Nearby Friends, Monzo generates a token representing the user through its API, which is then sent to Google Nearby through Bluetooth on the user’s device to ‘broadcast’ it to other Monzo apps within a 90-foot radius.”
Contactless payments are now used for half of all public transport journeys in London
Half of all London’s pay as you go journeys are now contactless — MayorWatch — “Figures released by Transport for London show that more than 17m contactless pay as you go journeys are now made using contactless each week, with more than 1.7bn journeys made since launch.”
Charity to roll out contactless donation screens following successful three week pilot
Contactless donations project raises thousands for homeless in Cardiff — Wales Online — “The interactive window in the city centre allows passers-by to tap their card on the screen and donate £2 (US$2.85) to homeless charities… A total of 430 kind-hearted shoppers in Cardiff swiped their contactless cards to give money to the homeless in just three weeks… Following its success during the trial in March the Give DIFFerently campaign now hopes to roll out more contactless points across the city.”
Church of England rolls out contactless donations to 16,000 churches, cathedrals and religious sites
Church of England brings cashless transactions to its congregations — Church of England — “Over 16,000 churches, cathedrals, and religious sites will now have access to portable card readers through the Church of England’s Parish Buying portal through a partnership with SumUp and iZettle. The readers will be used to take contactless payments, Apple Pay and Google Pay, as well as chip & pin… Technology facilitating charitable donations on a self-service basis, including passing around a reader for the collection, continues to be trialled and is expected to be launched in phase two of the project.”
UK supermarket rolls out in-aisle checkout and rewards
Convenient future in store as Co-op dials-up pay in aisle technology — Co-op — “The innovative move, which harnesses the latest technology, allows customers to scan products on their own device as they walk around the store — known as a ‘frictionless shopping experience’. When they have finished shopping, the amount they owe will then be deducted from their account with a single click… The technology also links information from a customer’s Co-op Membership account — telling shoppers how much they have saved and, how much the Co-op will donate to local good causes following the transaction.”
Barclaycard reports rapid rise in mobile and wearable payments volumes
Next phase of contactless revolution sees rapid growth in mobile and wearable payments — Barclaycard — “The amount spent using Barclaycard’s Android Contactless Mobile facility has increased 365% year-on-year, while spending via bPay — a unique, flexible payments chip that can be embedded into a variety of products such as watches and jewellery — jumped 129%… Overall, contactless payments, including those made on a credit and debit card, have seen continued growth over the last 12 months, with a 79% uplift in spending.”
Mobile payments reach ‘tipping point’ in the UK
Tipping point for ‘tap and go’ as mobile payments top £975 million — Worldpay — “The number of in-store contactless transactions made via a mobile device totalled 126m last year, with the amount spent topping £975m (US$1.3bn). This marks a 328% year-on-year rise in in-store mobile spending… Accounting for 59% of all in-store mobile transactions, the supermarket sector has been an important driver in the uptake of digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, as time-poor shoppers grab groceries on the go. Pubs, bars and restaurants make up a further 12.5% of the total spend.”
Barclaycard tests on-table ‘totems’ that let customers check themselves out of a restaurant
Dining on demand: Barclaycard launches first ‘Dine & Dash’ restaurant — Barclaycard — “Barclaycard has developed ‘Dine & Dash’, a new solution enabling diners to simply walk out after eating — bypassing the traditional bill-paying process — which will be unveiled with a consumer trial at high-street chain Prezzo. The launch comes in response to 38% of diners who want to avoid waiting for the bill and 67% of restaurant owners who are in favour of an ‘invisibill’ way to pay to improve service and customer satisfaction.”
UK to move beyond ‘peak cash’ this year
Revealed: Cash eclipsed as Britain turns to digital payments — The Guardian — “Debit cards are set to overtake cash as the most frequently used payment method in the UK later this year… In 2006, 62% of all payments in the UK were made using cash; in 2016 the proportion had fallen to 40%. By 2026, it is predicted cash will be used for just 21%.”
Metro Bank lets customers open an account with a selfie
Bricks and clicks unite: Metro Bank takes the revolution nationwide with launch of current accounts online — Metro Bank — “The use of cutting-edge technology means identification documents, along with a selfie, are uploaded directly onto the application. With verification and authentication taking place in real-time, accounts can be opened in less than 10 minutes, including setting-up internet banking.”
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.”
Bank of England puts a hold on research into issuing its own digital currency
Bank halts crypto-currency plans over stability fears — FT Adviser — “The Bank of England (BoE) has been researching the possibility of launching its own digital currency to rival bitcoin, but fears about the impact on the wider financial system means it has no ‘current plans’ to do so… If the central bank launched a digital currency of its own, it worried consumers would stop using commercial bank accounts and, instead, have a bank account with the Bank of England, and choose to use digital technology to purchase goods and services over paper money.”
Survey finds high level of consumer satisfaction with mobile payments in US and UK
Auriemma Consulting Group conducts parallel study of mobile pay usage in the US and the UK — Auriemma Consulting Group — “While UK cardholders are slightly more likely than their US counterparts to have used Apple Pay (12% v 9%) and Visa Checkout (9% v 6%) within the past month, other options, such as PayPal In-Store Checkout (5% each) and Android Pay (4% each) show similar usage patterns. Although usage metrics are low, satisfaction with each technology is extremely high.”
UK banks to begin rollout of world’s first standardised open banking system
UK’s Open Banking to launch on 13 January 2018 — Open Banking — “The UK is the first nation to implement a standardised open banking solution. In the UK we are creating a single technology standard enabling new services to be easily built and offered to consumers and small businesses… The first set of Open Banking APIs will go live to third party providers on 13 January.”
First US gym adds support for Apple Watch NFC pairing with exercise machines
Apple Watch GymKit syncing arrives in exactly one US gym — Engadget — “GymKit syncing on the Apple Watch technically arrived with watchOS 4.1, but there’s been one main obstacle to using it: Actually finding a gym that supports it. Only one fitness center each in Australia and the UK have enabled it so far… One solitary gym in New York City, Life Time Athletic at Sky, now has 13 GymKit-capable machines (including treadmills, bikes, ellipticals and stair steppers) that will pair with your smartwatch.”
UK consumers split 50:50 on willingness to share personal data with banks
NCR research highlights consumer desire for innovative banking services in the UK — NCR — “Nearly half of respondents (47%) with personal bank accounts would only feel comfortable with banks collecting the bare minimum of data required to run their accounts… 49% were interested in banking loyalty programs in partnership with retailers requiring third-party data sharing. 46% were open to financial advice services that keep track of their spending information to help save money.”
UK government unveils plans for smart ticketing on railways
Connecting people: A strategic vision for rail — Department for Transport — “Our aim for 2018 is that, by the end of the year, both ITSO and barcode tickets will be accepted for travel on almost all of the network… We also expect much of the industry to offer smart cards that can be held in digital ‘wallets’ on mobile phones… We expect in the medium-term wider use of mobile phone-based ticketing, and in the longer-term to explore options that don’t require a physical check of tickets.”
Starling Bank integrates third party rewards into open banking platform
Starling and Yoyo Wallet: Enabling loyalty with open banking — Starling Bank — “With any other bank, in order to collect loyalty points you would have to manually pay using the Yoyo app using a QR code scanner. However we have created an experience together with Yoyo, using our APIs, which means you don’t need to use any separate apps to pay. You just need to securely connect your Yoyo account to your Starling account from the Yoyo app and allow Yoyo to view your Starling account transactions. You will then be able to collect loyalty points whenever you use your Starling card, Apple Pay or Fitbit Pay at a merchant partner.”
UK government expands open banking project to credit cards, e-wallets and prepaid cards
UK’s Open Banking project expanded — Open Banking — “The OBIE [Open Banking Implementation Entity] has now been asked by the CMA9 and Her Majesty’s Treasury to create open banking standards for all payment account types covered by the European Union’s second Payments Services Directive (PSD2). This means customers using credit cards, e-wallets and prepaid cards will also be able to take advantage of open banking services.”