Samsung Pay has expanded to four additional markets with official launches in Sweden and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and early access launches in Hong Kong and Switzerland. The service has also been made available on Samsung’s Gear S3 smartwatch in Russia, Sweden and the UAE in addition to its availability on the Gear S3 in the US, Singapore and Australia. More
A new range of wearable devices equipped with Barclaycard’s bPay contactless technology will enable UK consumers to automatically donate the small change from any contactless payment they make using the device to charities of their choice. More
Restaurant chains Eat and Bel-Air are piloting a service in their London locations that delivers real-time receipts to a customer’s mobile banking app by linking to the purchases they make using their bank cards at the retailer’s point-of-sale terminal. The service is also being trialled by UK challenger bank Monzo. More
Customers of Lloyds Banking Group across the UK will soon be able to log into their online banking accounts using fingerprint or facial recognition through Microsoft’s Windows Hello biometric authentication technology. The banking group is to trial the solution with Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland customers with Windows 10 devices in the second half of this year. More
Android Pay has been integrated into the mobile banking apps of “several banks around the world” so that users can add their cards to the mobile payment service with “just the click of a button”. The feature will also work for those who have not installed Android Pay on their handset, giving them access to “the capabilities of Android Pay” without having to leave their mobile banking app. More
Visa is to bring all of its contactless transactions online this year across 10 European countries to give consumers “more control over their accounts” following calls from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for banks to tighten the processes they undergo when a customer reports a stolen contactless card. American Express is also “reviewing options” to ensure those who cancel their cards are protected against contactless fraud. More
Samsung Pay is to launch in Ireland later this year, following its expected launch in the UK this summer, according to The Irish Times... More
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has set out measures it plans to tighten the processes banks undergo when a customer reports a stolen contactless card, which currently allow — in a “limited set of circumstances” — for a stolen card to be misused by fraudsters “several months after it has been cancelled”. More
UK bank HSBC and its subsidiary First Direct have become the latest to sign up to Pay by Bank, the mobile payments app developed by VocaLink’s Zapp... More
Apple Pay has launched in Taiwan with support from Mastercard, Visa and seven banks including Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank, Cathay United Bank, E.Sun Commercial Bank, Taishin International Bank, CTBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Union Bank of Taiwan. More
Mobile POS provider Square has launched in the UK... More
More than half of UK consumers (56%) would prefer to use a biometric security method over traditional options like passwords to log into their financial accounts online, research released by Equifax reveals. 33% would prefer to use fingerprint recognition, 31% would like to use iris scanners, 7% facial recognition and 3% voice recognition. More
Fashion brand Ted Baker and Swiss luxury watchmaker Mondaine are to integrate NFC payments into a range of watches to enable customers to make payments using technology supplied by Tappy Technologies, which has also partnered with Barclaycard to offer bPay contactless payment technology in the UK... More
Customers at select McDonald’s restaurants across the UK can now order ahead using their mobile phone... More
PARTNER NEWS: Scottish commuters using public transport services operated by Lothian Buses will soon be able to pay for their journeys using a host card emulation (HCE) based mobile payment service powered by Nevis Technologies, the joint venture between Scotland’s largest regional transport group Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) and technology provider Rambus... More
Gmail users in the US can now send and receive money through the email service’s Android mobile app... More
Vodafone has added PayPal as a payment option to its NFC-based Vodafone Wallet mobile payment service in the Netherlands... More
Vodafone Germany customers can now make NFC mobile payments using PayPal or a Visa credit card installed in the mobile network operator’s Vodafone Wallet... More
Android Pay has launched in Belgium with support for Mastercard and Visa credit cards from BNP Paribas Fortis, Hello Bank... More
Apple Pay has been launched across Ireland with support from Mastercard, Visa, KBC and Ulster Bank, allowing customers to make in-store, online and in-app payments using their compatible devices... More