Strex, the mobile payments joint venture between Norwegian carriers Telenor, TeliaSonera and Tele2, has selected software and services provider Amdocs’ Mobile Financial Services solution to “consolidate the operators’ multiple SMS-based payment systems into one” mobile wallet... More
Archive: News in brief
MassDOT tests mobile tickets
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has begun a pilot test of BusPlus, a mobile ticketing service developed by Bytemark that provides customers of intercity private bus operators the ability to purchase and store transit passes on their mobile devices... More
Gmail sends money in the UK
Google is expanding availability of its Send Money in Gmail service, enabling users in the UK to send money to friends and family from within their Gmail account... More
USAT adds support for Apple Pay
Cashless vending machine technology provider USA Technologies has announced a rollout of new acceptance points for Apple Pay across the US More
Samsung Pay to launch at MWC?
Samsung Pay, “a payment feature which works with magnetic and NFC terminals” will ship with the Korean phone maker’s forthcoming Galaxy S6 mobile phone, BGR reports, citing a “trusted source”... More
Schoolboys protect Macs with Touch ID
Two Dutch schoolboys have developed KeyTouch, an app that uses Apple’s Touch ID technology to protect access to Mac computers... More
Descartes offers ear verification for mobile devices
Descartes Biometrics has unveiled Helix, an ear detection and recognition technology that uses a smartphone owner’s unique ear features to lock and unlock their mobile device... More
Taiwanese banks to use Wave NFC dongle
Taiwan Mobile Payment Co (TWMP), the consortium of regional banks bringing NFC payments to market in Taiwan, is to use Oti Wave, the NFC payment dongle developed by On Track Innovations... More
Android devices get multifactor biometrics
Voice control specialist Sensory has released AppLock, a mobile app that can secure other apps on any Android device with multifactor biometric authentication... More
Ringly raises US$5.1m for light-up rings
Wearable technology company Ringly has raised US$5.1m in Series A funding to produce a range of connected jewellery that links to a smartphone, and alerts the wearer with a variety of customizable notifications by lighting up and vibrating... More
New York metro heads to NFC
New York City’s Metro Transit Authority (MTA) is in discussions to replace its MetroCard payment system with a new US$450m system set to include support for NFC mobile payments and contactless cards... More
Payment security tops retailer priorities
More than 63% of US retailers have included payment security among their top three priorities for 2015 in a survey by Boston Retail Partners, with 650% more retailers planning to support EMV by October... More
Most US retailers won’t be ready for EMV
More than half of all US retailers (55%) are still not fully prepared for the migration to EMV despite the impending October deadline, a survey for ACI Worldwide has revealed... More
Juniper forecasts biometric authentication market
More than 770m mobile apps that make use of biometric authentication will be downloaded annually by 2019, up from 6m this year, Juniper Research predicts... More
FNB to offer Apple Pay
First National Bank (FNB) in the US will begin making Apple Pay available to its customers in the first quarter of 2015... More
Amazon shuts mobile wallet
Amazon is contacting users of its Amazon Wallet service to inform them that the service, launched in beta in July 2014, is closing down on 21 January, CNET reports... More
7-Eleven HK adds mobile payment and rewards
Convenience store chain 7-Eleven has launched 7-Fans, a QR code-based mobile payment and loyalty app that rewards customers with one point for every HK$5 spent using the service at any of more than 900 stores across Hong Kong... More
Learn about HCE and secure elements in our live webinar TODAY
NFC World’s webinar on NFC security strategies and the roles of the secure element and HCE takes place at 3pm GMT today... More
Galaxy S6 to get new fingerprint sensor?
Samsung could replace the swipe-based fingerprint sensor used on the Galaxy S5 with a touch-based sensor on the Galaxy S6, expected to be introduced in the coming months... More
Nintendo sells 2.4m NFC figures
Nintendo sold about 2.4m NFC-enabled Amiibo figurines in 2014, the company has revealed... More