US retail giant Target is to introduce its own mobile payment service to “one or more of its own apps” later this year, the company’s Michael McNamara has told Recode... More
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US bank backs top five mobile payment services
US bank Fifth Third has announced it will support the five major mobile payment services — Android Pay, Apple Pay, Masterpass, Microsoft Wallet and Samsung Pay... More
US bank to upgrade all ATMs for mobile withdrawals
US bank Wells Fargo expects to be the first bank to fully convert all its ATMs to support a mobile withdrawals service, allowing customers to get cash by entering an eight-digit code generated by the bank’s app plus their PIN into the machine, CNN Money reports... More
US consumers to use loyalty points as currency for in-store payments
US consumers will soon be able to purchase goods using loyalty points from multiple programs through Verifone Points Redemption, a new service designed for merchants which connects to third party loyalty programs and alerts shoppers when they have enough points available to complete a payment... More
PayPal extends NFC payments with Discover
US consumers will be able to make NFC mobile payments using PayPal at the point of sale wherever Discover is accepted, and use their Discover Cashback Bonus to pay at online and mobile merchants that accept PayPal... More
Samsung Pay doubles users every week since Samsung Rewards launch
The number of daily Samsung Pay users has doubled every week since the launch of Samsung Rewards in the US in November 2016, the company’s Nana Murugesan revealed during a panel session at CES 2017... More
Huawei installs Amazon Alexa on flagship smartphone for US market
Chinese mobile phone giant Huawei is to pre-load Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant on its flagship Mate 9 smartphone, which has now launched in the US, as Amazon bids for a leading role in the emerging voice-activated services market... More
Apple Pay users to get rewards at 300,000 self-serve machines
US consumers making purchases at 300,000 self-serve machines across the country will soon receive exclusive offers, promotions and discounts toward future purchases when using Apple Pay to complete a payment... More
Mastercard ‘selfie pay’ biometric service heads to Singapore
Mastercard is preparing to launch its ‘selfie pay’ biometric Identity Check Mobile service in Singapore this year, according to The Business Times... More
Samsung lets smart fridge owners use voice commands to order groceries
US consumers will soon be able to use their voice to order groceries directly from their fridge with the latest edition of Samsung’s smart connected fridge platform and an updated version of the Groceries by Mastercard mobile app... More
Volkswagen targets mobile payments business with parking service deal
Volkswagen Financial Services AG, the financial services division of German vehicle manufacturer Volkswagen Group, has bought mobile payment platform PayByPhone to “highly increase” its involvement in mobile payments around the world and to establish a “separate business field around the theme of parking”... More
Apple Pay adds Chinese and US banks
Apple has added 14 banks and credit unions to its list of financial institutions in China supporting Apple Pay, and a further 30 in the US... More
62% of US consumers own IoT device
A study by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) shows nearly two-thirds (62%) of American consumers own at least one Internet of Things (IoT) connected device, while 65% of them say they are willing to receive ads on IoT screens... More
Las Vegas hotel to install Amazon Echo in every room
Luxury hotel and casino Wynn Las Vegas will install Amazon’s Echo in all its 4,748 rooms by summer 2017... More
Paypal partners with US bank and fintech provider
Paypal has announced new partnerships with US bank Citi and financial technology services provider Fidelity National Information Services (FIS)... More
More US firms offer Apple Pay
US airline United Airlines, domain name provider GoDaddy and donation platform Causemo are among the latest businesses offering Apple Pay, Apple Insider reports... More
Two fifths of global card-present payments use EMV standard
More than two fifths of all card-present transactions conducted globally (42%) between July 2015 and June 2016 used the EMV chip card standard, up from 33% for the previous 12-month period, standards body EMVCo has revealed... More
Amex adds card feature for Messenger bot
American Express has unveiled an Add a Card feature to its Amex bot for Messenger, allowing eligible US Consumer and Open card members to add their card and billing information for purchases on Facebook... More
Machine ‘learns’ face recognition skills
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have designed a machine-learning system that appears to have worked out itself a key factor in how the human brain recognises people’s faces... More
Citi app adds range of biometric authentication options
An update to US bank Citi’s mobile banking app allows customers to log in using a range of biometric authentication methods, including fingerprint, voice and facial recognition... More