Samsung Pay will launch in China, Spain and the UK in the first quarter of 2016, “as per the information that we’ve received,” SamMobile reports... More
USA
American Express unveils NFC, HCE and tokenization platform
American Express has launched Amex Enabled Digital Solution, a platform incorporating support for multiple digital wallets, contactless payments based on NFC and host card emulation (HCE), tokenization and express checkout services. The platform is designed to help both banks and merchants, Amex’s Mike Matan told NFC World. More
Apple Pay adds close to 100 banks in the US
Apple has added just under 100 more banks and credit unions to its list of Apple Pay supporting financial institutions in the US, 9to5mac reports... More
Apple Pay could launch in Australia this week
Apple Pay may go live in Australia on November 19, following its launch in Canada earlier this week... More
BBVA Wallet adds cash rewards
Customers of US bank BBVA Compass can now redeem cash rewards through the BBVA Wallet app after making purchases using their credit card... More
BBVA reports more than 1m downloads of HCE mobile wallet app
More than one million consumers have downloaded BBVA’s host card emulation (HCE) mobile wallet since it launched in June 2014... More
Apple to add P2P payments to Apple Pay?
Apple is reportedly holding discussions with US banks about developing a payment service that would let users send money to one another from their phones through Apple Pay... More
Shopkick installs BLE beacons to reward Vanity customers
Users of mobile marketing app Shopkick can now earn rewards via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons every time they walk into one of fashion retailer Vanity’s 150 US stores. “Shopkick will install two shopBeacon devices in every Vanity store,” Shopkick says... More
College students make payments with selfies
Students at Southwestern College in Kansas can now pay for their food and drink and earn loyalty points and rewards using their face, with no need to pull out their wallet or mobile device at the point-of-sale. More
Lisnr raises US$10m for sound-based proximity communication technology
US startup Lisnr has secured US$10m in Series B funding for a technology that uses inaudible sound waves called SmartTones to connect devices... More
Trustev reports on US adoption rates for Apple Pay versus Android Pay and Samsung Pay
One in five US consumers (20%) with an iPhone that supports Apple Pay have tried the mobile payment service while 14% of those with a Samsung Galaxy S5 or S6 have tried Samsung Pay or Android Pay, research from Trustev reveals... More
US Bank loyalty program goes mobile
US Bank FlexPerks Visa customers can now use their mobile phones to redeem loyalty points... More
Sacramento Kings fans get mobile ordering and payments
Fans of US basketball team the Sacramento Kings will soon be able to use NFC mobile payment services and place orders from their device for concession pickup and direct-to-seat delivery at the Sleep Train Arena and Golden 1 Center... More
Kohl’s and Walgreens add loyalty to Apple Pay
US retailers Kohl’s and Walgreens have become the first to integrate their loyalty programs with Apple Pay, allowing Kohl’s Charge Card and Walgreens’ Balance Reward customers to earn and redeem points using their iPhones... More
Hiku integrates voice-enabled shopping device with online grocery services
US startup Hiku Labs has signed up retail giant Walmart and online grocery service Peapod for a service that lets shoppers scan or speak items onto a mobile shopping list via a US$49 device that includes a barcode scanner and built-in microphone... More
MIT technology identifies humans through walls
Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) have presented a new technology called RF Capture that uses wireless reflections to identify silhouettes through walls... More
US consumers prefer bank offered mobile wallets
More than half of US consumers (51%) are likely to use a bank offered mobile wallet with the top challenges for mobile wallet adoption being fear of identity theft (68%) and merchant acceptability (33%), research from CCG Catalyst reveals... More
Apple Pay adds 54 more US banks
Apple has added another 54 banks and credit unions to its list of Apple Pay supporting financial institutions in the US... More
Chase Pay to offer payments at the pump
Users of Chase Pay, the new mobile payments service from JP Morgan Chase, will be able to make mobile payments at the pump through a programme launched by mobile commerce provider P97 Networks... More
One in five US Starbucks transactions now on mobile
Mobile payments now account for 21% of all transactions in US Starbucks-owned stores... More