Seventeen Fresh & Easy stores in Phoenix are piloting new machines from in-store ATM operator Cardtronics that offer customers discounts they can apply to store purchases by scanning a QR code on their cash withdrawal receipt using a smartphone running the company’s AllTM app... More
USA
MCX prepares to open its wallet to NFC and bank cards
MCX is now open to supporting both NFC and Bluetooth Low Energy for payments and is in conversation with credit card issuers about opening up its CurrentC mobile wallet to payment cards, CEO Dekkers Davidson and COO Scott Rankin have told reporters... More
Visa CEO identifies mobile payment as major growth driver
Mobile payments will be a “great driver” for Visa, CEO Charles Scharf has told analysts during the company’s Q4 earnings call, and Apple Pay is just the beginning... More
60% of consumers will share data with stores
A majority of Americans (60%) would be comfortable divulging information about themselves anonymously to their favourite stores, a new survey from Wearables.com and The Center for Generational Kinetics reveals... More
Bedier unveils Poynt POS
The former head of Google Wallet has unveiled a payment terminal supporting mag stripe, EMV, NFC, QR codes and beacon technology with no add-ons or dongles needed... More
Taco Bell app lets customers rotate to reorder
US quick-service restaurant chain Taco Bell has launched a mobile ordering and payment app that lets customers place their orders through a customisable menu and complete a payment using a stored Taco Bell card, credit card or debit card before arriving at the counter... More
MCX suffers email address data breach
“Within the last 36 hours, we learned that unauthorized third parties obtained the email addresses of some of our CurrentC pilot program participants and individuals who had expressed interest in the app,” retailer-owned mobile payments consortium MCX has revealed... More
MCX responds to criticism
“Much of the conversation the past couple of days has been misinformed about the product MCX is developing, so we’d like to set the record straight,” the retailer-owned consortium says in a detailed blog post outlining its position and plans for its CurrentC mobile wallet that has been published in response to criticism of the decision taken by member merchants CVS and Rite Aid to pull support for NFC payments... More
McDonald’s adopts Softcard
McDonald’s 14,000 restaurants and drive-thru locations across the US have begun accepting Android NFC mobile payments following a successful pilot program with carrier joint venture Softcard that began in 2013... More
NRF defends retailers’ decision to block NFC payments
“Merchants large and small make business decisions every single day based upon what makes the best sense for the business, their associates and most importantly, their customers,” says Mallory Duncan, senior vice president of the US’s National Retail Federation, in a statement issued in the wake of the decision taken by CVS and Rite Aid to stop accepting Apple Pay and other NFC payments... More
US payments body hits out at Rite Aid and CVS
“The decision by CVS and Rite Aid to block mobile payments services like Apple Pay, Google Wallet and Softcard is anti-consumer and anti-competitive,” says US-based trade body the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA), following the MCX consortium members’ decision to stop accepting NFC payments... More
MCX retailers turn off NFC payments
US pharmacy chains Rite Aid and CVS, both members of the MCX retailer-owned consortium which is due to launch its CurrentC mobile payment service in 2015, have stopped accepting NFC payments in the wake of the launch of Apple Pay. More
Survey finds US consumers willing to switch platforms to get Apple Pay
Almost half (45%) of US smartphone owners with non-iOS devices would be willing to switch to an iOS device in order to gain access to Apple Pay, a study from market research firm Lab42 has revealed... More
TCH plans real time payments
The Clearing House (TCH) and its member banks are planning to build a real-time payment system in the US that will enable consumers and businesses to send and receive immediate payments directly from their accounts... More
Chicago to get NFC mobile ticketing in 2016
Travellers across Chicago will be able to pay for rides on all three transit systems including Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) trains and buses, Metra commuter rail and Pace suburban buses with a mobile app next year, and “with a few taps on their mobile devices” from early 2016... More
Discover CEO outlines plan to join Apple Pay
Discover CEO David Nelms has spoken out about his expectation that the company will eventually participate in Apple Pay, explaining that the company is “actively working to be included over time.”... More
Amazon Rewards to join Apple Pay
Amazon has confirmed to TechCrunch that its Rewards Visa Card, powered by Chase, is to support Apple Pay in the future and the company is already working on making this happen... More
Apple Pay glitch charges customers twice
Some Apple Pay users have been charged twice for purchases made using a Bank of America card, CNN’s Samuel Burke discovered after using the service to make purchases at Whole Foods and Duane Reade earlier this week. More
Revolution Money founder raises funds for location-based marketing venture
Jason Hogg, founder and former CEO of Revolution Money and a co-inventor of the technology behind American Express’ Serve and Bluebird services, has raised US$6.2m for Hangit, a location-based messaging platform that, he told NFC World+, aims to give small merchants “the same skills and capabilities a large retailer would have with their marketing platforms.”... More
Google discusses Wallet plans
Google has talked about its plans with regard to its Google Wallet app and mobile payments, hinting at possible partnerships and insisting that the company is still trying to “get it right.”... More