The US Patent & Trademark Office has published three patent applications from Apple that relate to both Apple Pay and Touch ID biometric verification... More
Archive: News in brief
Migros to launch mobile payments
Migros, Switzerland’s largest supermarket chain, is to launch a mobile payments service that will work in its own locations, other stores and with other bank accounts, as well as the retailer’s own Migros Bank accounts, Schweiz am Sonntag reports... More
Bank of America reports on Apple Pay
Nearly 800,000 Bank of America customers have now enrolled to use Apple Pay and have added about 1.1m cards, the bank has revealed... More
CardMobili adds beacons to mobile wallet
CardMobili has added support for Bluetooth beacon-based marketing services to its digital wallet platform... More
MasterCard partners with Masabi
MasterCard has announced a global partnership that will combine its payment technology with Masabi’s JustRide mobile ticketing platform... More
Spain pilots contactless ID cards
The Government of Spain is piloting a contactless ID card in Lleida that can be read using an NFC device... More
Alibaba to buy Paytm?
Alibaba is in advanced talks to buy an approximately US$500 million stake in One97 Communications, the parent company of Indian mobile payment platform Paytm... More
Shazam adds support for Bluetooth beacons
Music recognition app Shazam has partnered with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) specialist Gimbal to add support for Bluetooth beacons to its platform... More
Edenred pilots NFC payments
Meal voucher provider Edenred France is piloting NFC payments with Orange and MasterCard to let users pay for meals with their smartphones in restaurants affiliated to Ticket Restaurant and equipped with a contactless terminal... More
Glasgow to get NFC bus shelters
Glasgow City Council-owned bus shelters around the Scottish city will be fitted with NFC tags and QR codes to allow people to engage with advertisers by accessing interactive content such as vouchers, games and videos using their smartphones... More
Starbucks takes payments app to Germany and France
Coffee giant Starbucks has launched its mobile payment app in Germany and France to allow its customers to make payments using a mobile version of their Starbucks card... More
Verifone and Samsung to offer Android mPOS
Verifone and Samsung have announced a global partnership to deliver Android-based mobile point of sale (mPOS) solutions to multi-lane and enterprise retailers... More
Apple Pay set to go live in Canada?
Apple Pay could be available in Canada within the next two months and the company is already in talks with partners to launch the mobile payment service in the country, 9to5mac reports... More
Line Pay launches in-app taxi service in Tokyo
Japanese instant messaging giant Line has launched a taxi service in Tokyo that lets users of its app summon a cab provided by Nihon Kotsu, the largest taxi limousine rental company in the country, and pay for it using Line Pay... More
Nedbank tests BLE mobile payments app
South Africa’s Nedbank is internally testing a proof-of-concept mobile payments app called Accolades that uses BLE beacons to connect customers to retailers as they enter the store... More
Audi unlocks car with NFC smartwatch
Audi has shown off a smartwatch that can be used to communicate with and unlock a car via NFC at the CES in Las Vegas... More
Toshiba puts NFC on memory cards
Toshiba has added NFC to a SDHC memory card, allowing consumers to check the card’s contents by tapping it against their NFC phone instead of plugging it into a PC or digital camera... More
Kontakt.io puts on $1m beacon hunt at CES
Beacon solution provider Kontakt.io is hosting a Bluetooth-based treasure hunt with a million dollar prize at the CES in Las Vegas... More
Circle adds NFC to Bitcoin payments app
Bitcoin wallet provider Circle has added NFC to its Android app to enable users to make payments using the digital currency with a tap of their smartphone... More
Broadcom unveils NFC chip for cars
Broadcom has introduced an automotive-grade NFC controller designed to be built into vehicles to simplify set-up for mobile device connectivity and enable solutions such as keyless entry... More