Mobile network operator Vodafone is expanding the functionality of its mobile wallet beyond NFC with a deal to add Austria-based Bluesource’s Mobile-Pocket technology to the service, enabling customers to store hundreds of loyalty, membership, transit and promotional cards in their Vodafone wallet by simply scanning them in using the camera on their smartphone. More
Retailer-owned mobile payments provider Yapital is to add “one click” purchases from printed advertising media to its app, enabling shoppers to order and pay for promoted products by scanning QR codes in merchants’ billboard and newspaper ads, flyers and shop window decals. More
A new Nintendo Figurine Platform and a range of NFC toys that makes use of the NFC functionality in the Wii U GamePad is to be unveiled at the E3 games show next month, company president Satoru Iwata has announced. A standalone device that will enable NFC toys to be used with the Nintendo 3DS handheld console will also be introduced and NFC payments for games are to added, initially in Japan, from this summer. More
Money transfer service provider MoneyGram has partnered with PicomoPay to enable US consumers to send funds to any of MoneyGram’s 336,000 agents around the world from the social payments provider’s Facebook application... More
Groupe Le Duff, owner of 1,260 restaurants and bakeries, is piloting a mobile wallet developed by mobile shopping solutions provider Airtag in 20 of its Brioche Dorée quick service bakery outlets in France. More
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Deutsche Telekom has launched MyWallet, an NFC service that allows customers with any of 18 supported Samsung and Sony Android NFC devices to make payments at MasterCard PayPass merchants. The service is live in Germany today, will be launched in Slovakia this month and in Hungary later this year. More
IT services provider Capita has added support for Barclays’ Pingit mobile payments service to its payments platform, enabling its UK private and public sector clients to add QR codes to their bills so that consumers can make a payment by simply scanning the code with their smartphone... More
Google Glass wearers will soon be able to make payments from their Google Wallet account, by simply saying “send money”, Techcrunch reports... More
Transaction services provider Worldline has unveiled Connected Kitchen, an electronic fridge magnet aimed at online food retailers that lets consumers add everyday products to their shopping list as they use them, by scanning the product’s barcode or through a speech recognition feature. More
More than 1,000 film fans attending last month’s Tribeca Film Festival tapped a promotional poster with an NFC phone to get a free movie ticket, technology providers HID Global and Tamoco report. Overall, the posters were tapped a total of 8,195 times by 1,156 individual mobile devices. More
The Royal Bank of Canada has expanded the functionality and availability of its cloud-based RBC Wallet... More
Customers of Canadian carrier Rogers can now add a range of merchant gift cards, managed by prepaid card provider Blackhawk Network, to their Suretap NFC mobile wallets. The gift cards are redeemed at merchants using standard barcode readers, and are available for Swiss Chalet, Milestones Grill and Bar, Montana’s Cookhouse, Harvey’s, Kelsey’s, Indigo, Earls Restaurants, Ardene and Spafinder Wellness 365. More
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Exhibition and convention centre ExCel London is to use technology from Poken to provide event organisers with an NFC-based digital networking and content collection platform. More
There were 13.92m NFC mobile phones in service in Japan at the end of January 2014, the Mobile NFC Association (MoNA) reports, and a total of 70 models of mobile phone that support NFC services are now available from the country’s three mobile network operators... More
US-based startup Dimple has developed a US$27 sticker for Android NFC smartphones which contains four buttons that the user can personalize to perform their choice of NFC quick actions. More
Orange Poland has launched NFC Pass, a new service that builds on its existing Orange Cash platform to enable customers to make debit card payments using their NFC phone. More
Samsung has expanded its NFC phone range with the addition of the Galaxy K Zoom. The “camera-specialized smartphone” enables users to “effortlessly capture and share their most important everyday moments in stunning clarity, with the convenience and connectedness of a Galaxy smartphone, for a unique, all-in-one mobile experience,” says Samsung SVP Sun Hong Lim. More
Sequent Software has added support for cloud-based issuance, tokenization and host card emulation (HCE) to its digital issuance platform... More
French bank Credit Mutuel-CIC is to pilot a mobile wallet in the Boulogne-Billancourt area of Paris from May 17, Les Echos reports, enabling consumers to make payments via NFC or QR in around 100 stores... More
Fans attending gigs by Warner Music act The Wild Feathers have been provided with guitar picks containing an NFC tag. These could then be used to enter a competition, share content via social media and take part in votes at the gig, all initiated by tapping the plectrum with an NFC phone. More