Indian mobile cab hailing service Ola Cabs is reportedly planning to apply for a mobile wallet licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)... More
Archive: News in brief
Samsung Pay to start second beta testing round
Samsung Pay is reportedly set to start a second round of beta testing in Korea with Samsung Card this Friday... More
China moves to open up mobile payments services
People’s Bank of China has proposed new regulations that could force internet companies Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu to offer each others’ online payment services alongside their own... More
25% of world’s population to use mobile banking in four years
More than 25% of the world’s population will use mobile banking in the next four years, research from KPMG using data from UBS Evidence Lab reveals, predicting the number of users will double to 1.8bn... More
Brits want black cab contactless payments
Three quarters of UK consumers say they should be able to pay for their fares in black cabs using contactless payments, a survey of 1,002 respondents conducted by YouGov and PLMR reveals... More
Nokia sells Here to Audi, BMW and Daimler
Nokia has sold its mapping and location intelligence service Here to a consortium of automotive companies including Audi, BMW and Daimler... More
Vodafone customers top up with PowaTag
Pay-as-you-go customers of Vodafone UK can now top up their mobile phones via Powa Technologies’ mobile payment platform PowaTag in more than 500 Vodafone stores as well as Argos, Brighthouse, Co-Op, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, JD Williams and Wilkinson... More
London markets could go contactless
Londoners may soon be able to pay with their contactless cards at market stalls across the city as a result of the £20m London Regeneration Fund launched by mayor Boris Johnson... More
Amex cardholders use reward points for Best Buy purchases
American Express card members in the Membership Rewards program can now use points to pay for online purchases at US retail giant Best Buy... More
US IT decision makers unprepared for EMV
Some 42% of US IT decision makers have taken no steps or are unaware of any progress being made in the migration towards EMV, research from Randstad Technologies finds, with only 58% actively preparing in time for the October liability shift deadline... More
New Google Glass ‘released soon’
A second version of Google Glass is in the works and will be “released soon”, according to the CEO of Italian eyewear maker Luxottica... More
US shoppers make more mobile payments
One in seven US shoppers has made a mobile payment during the last year and 68% are using alternative payment methods more often than a year ago, a survey by Blackhawk Network reveals... More
Subway adds PayPal to mobile app
Restaurant chain Subway is to add PayPal as a payment option in its mobile order and pay app to allow customers to make in-app and in-store payments in 27,000 US locations... More
Commonwealth Bank adds loyalty to mobile app
Commonwealth Bank has added a loyalty feature to its mobile banking app that also offers HCE payments, allowing users to store loyalty cards and redeem them at the checkout with their NFC phone or by scanning the loyalty card barcode... More
Tech firms do “better job” than banks, say 24% of young Brits
More than a fifth (24%) of Britons aged between 18 and 34 believe companies such as Google, Apple and Amazon would do a “better job” of providing financial products and services than banks, with 8% now choosing their bank depending on the type of mobile service it offers, research from price comparison site uSwitch reveals... More
Smart Ticketing Alliance and GlobalPlatform sign MOU
The Smart Ticketing Alliance (STA) has signed a memorandum of understanding with standards body GlobalPlatform to establish an interoperable framework for smart ticketing in the public transport sector... More
MasterCard token platform close to Australia launch
MasterCard’s token platform MasterCard Digital Enablement Service (MDES) could soon be rolled out across Australia following its launch in the US in September 2014... More
Burger King adds MasterPass to US app
Burger King is to add MasterCard’s MasterPass functionality to its mobile app, allowing customers in the US to find the nearest restaurant, explore the menu and pay directly with their phone... More
HSBC and First Direct go live with Apple Pay in UK
HSBC and First Direct customers in the UK can now add their debit and credit cards to Apple Pay, allowing them to use their iPhone, Apple Watch or iPad to pay at more than 250,000 locations... More
Wearable payments to reach $501bn by 2020
Payments made using wearable devices such as smart watches, fitness trackers and wristbands will grow from US$3.1bn in 2015 to $501.1bn worldwide by 2020, research from market intelligence firm Tractica finds... More