Shenzhen-based wearable device maker FiiSmart has launched a campaign on ecommerce giant Alibaba’s Taobao Crowdfunding website for a smartwatch that will support Ant Financial’s mobile payment platform Alipay and allow its wearers to make payments by generating a QR-code that can then be scanned at the point-of-sale... More
Archive: Newswire
Three in four Android users would use an NFC payments service
More than three quarters of Android users (78%) would use a service similar to Apple Pay if it became available to them, a survey conducted by Helixion has found... More
uBirds seeks funding for strap that brings NFC to any watch
Warsaw-based start-up uBirds has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a leather strap that can be fitted onto any standard watch to add a range of smartwatch-like capabilities... More
McDonald’s to accept Alipay in more than 2,100 restaurants in China
Chinese customers of fast food chain McDonald’s will soon be able to use Ant Financial’s Alipay QR code mobile payment platform to pay for their food and drink in more than 2,100 restaurants... More
Korean Samsung Pay users spend $30m in first month of launch
More than US$30m has been spent through Samsung Pay since the mobile payment service’s launch in Korea one month ago, Samsung has revealed... More
40% of UK Apple device owners have used Apple Pay
Four in ten UK consumers with an Apple Pay compatible device (40%) have used the mobile payment service to pay for goods or services since its launch in July 2015 and 15% feel that the introduction of Apple Pay will increase the amount of contactless payments they make, eDigitalResearch has found... More
How to develop a mobile payments roadmap — See it now on NFC World
NFC World’s ‘How to develop a mobile payments roadmap’ webinar is now available to view online... More
Grupo Aval introduces in-store mobile payments and offers in Colombia
Grupo Aval, Colombia’s largest financial services group, has launched a mobile payment and offers service that lets customers of its Av Villas, Banco de Bogotá, Banco de Occidente and Banco Popular banks make in-store payments using a code generated on their mobile phone... More
Pizza Hut installs Bluetooth beacons at 1,471 locations in China
Some 1,471 Pizza Hut restaurants in mainland China have installed Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons from Sensoro to send out coupons, WeChat movie ticket prizes, special offers and discounts directly to customers’ smartphones... More
Henry Holland uses NFC rings to let London Fashion Week VIPs buy direct from the catwalk
VIP guests attending fashion designer Henry Holland’s show at this week’s London Fashion Week were able to make purchases from the catwalk by tapping NFC rings against payment receiver tags attached to clothes and accessories... More
Axis Bank launches mobile wallet that uses sound for in-store payments
India’s Axis Bank has launched Lime, a mobile wallet that combines banking, shopping and payment services and lets customers make in-store purchases using an encrypted audio signal generated by their device... More
Japanese coffee chain lets customers charge purchases to their mobile phone bill
Japan’s largest coffee chain Ueshima Coffee is to let customers make purchases by charging the cost to their mobile phone bill through a partnership with carrier billing solutions provider Boku and mobile network operators KDDI and Docomo... More
80% of Brits have used alternative payment methods this year
Eight in ten UK consumers with bank accounts have used an alternative to traditional cash and plastic cards in the last 12 months, research by Gocompare.com has found... More
RapidNFC offers NFC jewellery tags for product authentication
PARTNER NEWS: NFC tag specialist RapidNFC has introduced an NFC Jewellery Tag designed for merchants to use on high-value products including watches, rings and necklaces... More
Absa Bank to pilot new Visa biometric chip card spec
South Africa’s Absa Bank is to be the first to develop a proof of concept trial of a new Visa specification that will enable the use of biometrics to verify EMV chip card transactions... More
Barclaycard uses HCE to add NFC payments to mobile app
Barclaycard is to expand the functionality of its Android mobile app to include NFC mobile payments, allowing customers to make purchases at more than 300,000 locations in the UK as well as across the London transport network from November 2015... More
RBC brings HCE mobile payments to North America
The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has become the first financial institution in North America to go live with a host card emulation (HCE) mobile payment service following a pilot in December 2014... More
Russian commuters get NFC mobile ticketing in Moscow
Subscribers to Russian mobile network operators MegaFon, Beeline and MTS can now pay for travel on public transport in Moscow using their NFC smartphone... More
Ask the Expert: HCE pioneer Doug Yeager — See it now on NFC World
NFC World’s ‘Ask the Expert: HCE pioneer Doug Yeager’ webinar is now available to view online... More
Google launches Android Pay in the US
Google has begun rolling out its Android Pay mobile payment platform across the US today. In-store NFC mobile payments using the system will be possible at more than one million locations within the next few days, with in-app payments and loyalty expected later this year. More