Central bank unveils plan on digital currency — China Daily — “The People’s Bank of China, the central bank, is organising market-oriented institutions to jointly research and develop a central bank digital currency and the programme has been approved by the State Council, the country’s Cabinet, Wang Xin, director of the PBOC Research Bureau, said at a seminar at Peking University.”
- Bank of China lets taxi drivers accept central bank digital currency payments on NFC mobile phones
- Juniper forecasts 25% increase in POS terminal transaction values by 2028
- STMicroelectronics launches NFC tag chip with elliptic curve cryptography
- NFC Forum survey finds majority of consumers now prefer making payments with their mobile phone
- Hello, NFCW readers!
Nordic banks to launch KYC platform venture
The collaboration of six Nordic banks results in a joint KYC company — SEB Group — “The joint venture company is preparing for its first commercial launch in 2020. The company is autonomous and will initially offer KYC services to the market concerning large and medium-sized companies based in the Nordic region.”
7-Eleven Japan halts QR payments rollout after hackers steal $500k in two days
Seven-Eleven mobile pay hack hits Japan’s drive to go cashless — Nikkei Asian Review — “Japan’s second-largest retail group by sales on Monday rolled out 7pay, which lets users make purchases with a smartphone app at Seven-Eleven Japan’s roughly 21,000 stores nationwide… By early Thursday, Seven & i had confirmed about 55 million yen ($510,000) stolen from 900 or so 7pay users. The company has in effect suspended the service by stopping users from adding money to their accounts.”
Telekom Slovenije launches mobile wallet that supports NFC, QR, P2P, bill splitting and transit ticketing payments
Telekom Slovenije launches the Valu smart wallet — Telekom Slovenije — “Valu smart wallet is available in Slovenia as a mobile app from 13 June, and combines in one place mobile payment services, transfer of funds between users, splitting the bill, as well as identification and use of local infrastructure services, such as purchasing Slovenian Railways train tickets… Valu also supports payments with a QR code (on Android and iOS devices) or NFC technology (Android devices).”
Swish pilots Bluetooth boxes for mobile payments in Swedish stores
Swedish P2P and online payments app Swish is moving into in-store payments with a pilot test of a Bluetooth box that can be added to merchants’ existing POS terminals to deliver “an NFC-like ‘tap and pay’ experience”... More
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Uber leverages open banking to provide in-app financial services to drivers in Mexico
BBVA, in alliance with Uber, launches first banking product in Mexico that operates in third party app — BBVA — “For the first time we are offering a BBVA product that will ‘live’ in a third party’s platform. In other words, we are bringing the bank to our partner, who in turn is bringing us to their drivers and delivery partners, so they can take advantage of all the benefits that the bank has to offer, all with a single click.”
Japanese government to reward shoppers for using mobile payments
Hoping to boost spending, Japan tries to sell shoppers on cashless purchases — Reuters — “A scheduled increase in the sales tax to 10% from 8% in October could hurt spending. Aware of that risk, the government is betting big on mobile payments, an industry only just taking root in Japan. As soon as the tax increase kicks in, the government will offer points redeemable for future discounts to shoppers who use QR codes and other cashless payments.”
Alipay to use ‘beauty filter’ to boost adoption of face payments terminals
Alipay adds a beauty filter to its facial scan payment system to encourage more female users — Radii China — “The move came after Sina Weibo’s tech channel pointed to data that showed male adoption rates of facial scan payments on Alipay were higher than those for females. ‘Be honest, when you’re using the facial payment option, do you think you’re ugly?’ asked the account via a poll. After more than 40,000 people voted, the poll showed that over 60% felt the payment method made them look ugly and ‘not as pretty as when taking a normal photo’.”
Maybank lets merchants accept contactless payments on their NFC phones
Maybank aims 10,000 device acceptance for Tap2Phone — The Star Online — “The payment solution enables small businesses to accept card payments from customers via the app on their mobile phones, without the need for a point-of-sale terminal… The Tap2Phone service accepts all contactless payments for transactions of RM250 [US$60.42] and below… Tap2Phone is supported by the latest Android-based smartphones equipped with near-field communication and trusted execution environment technologies.”
Walmart combines blockchain and QR codes to let Chinese consumers verify source of fresh produce in stores
Walmart customers in China will soon be able to scan QR codes on stickers attached to fresh meat, rice, mushrooms, cooking oil and other produce to acquire detailed product information including “the source of the scanned products and geographic location received by Walmart, logistics process, product inspection report, and many more data points”... More
Chinese retailers use face recognition to link shoppers’ online purchase history to in-store services
Data ‘R’ Us: Alibaba, JD.com seek to lock in merchant loyalty with new services — Reuters — “One of the first firms to join an Alibaba Group Holding Ltd programme that provides years of consumer shopping history, snack food chain, Bestore Co Ltd plans to link facial recognition technology with the e-commerce giant’s account data by the year’s end. For customers opting to have their facial data in Bestore’s systems, that means shop assistants will be able to check on what food they like the moment they enter one of its stores.”
Greater Anglia lets train passengers use NFC phones to top up travel cards
Dramatic increase in Smart Card use — Greater Anglia — “We’ve upgraded our Greater Anglia app so that if you have an Android phone, you can hold your Smart Card against it and it will automatically transfer the products you have bought from the website or app, onto your Smart Card… We’ve also enabled staff phones to be able to instantly check the validity of Smart Cards. So passengers can use their card with confidence, and at the same time the systems we have introduced will help to detect and prevent fraud.”
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POS terminals that support 23 different QR, contactless and NFC payments services roll out in Singapore
Unified cashless payment system rolled out at 500 hawker stalls across Singapore — The Straits Times — “The solution, provided by Nets, unifies payments from 23 providers, so dining customers can use different cashless payment options at a single payment terminal at a food outlet. This also saves hawkers the hassle of dealing with multiple e-payment firms. These include e-wallets like Singtel Dash and GrabPay, transport cards EZ-Link and Nets FlashPay, and credit cards such as Visa and Mastercard.”
Mobile payments providers turn to in-app games to drive adoption in India
Payments, food delivery apps launch games to woo users — Economic Times — “Payments apps and food delivery platforms are launching games to increase user base and stickiness… Paytm has found that more than 70% of its users play these games daily… In-app games, such as Zomato Cricket Cup, Swiggy Match Day Mania, Paytm Games and Tez Shots by Google Pay, are just a few examples.”
Pentagon researchers unveil biometric identification technology that works from 200m away
The Pentagon has a laser that can identify people from a distance — by their heartbeat — MIT Technology Review — “A new device, developed for the Pentagon after US Special Forces requested it, can identify people without seeing their face: instead it detects their unique cardiac signature with an infrared laser. While it works at 200 metres (219 yards), longer distances could be possible with a better laser. ‘I don’t want to say you could do it from space,’ says Steward Remaly, of the Pentagon’s Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office, ‘but longer ranges should be possible.’”
NTT Docomo celebrates 15th anniversary of world’s first mobile payment service
NTT Docomo celebrates Osaifu Keitai 15th anniversary — Ata Distance — “It all started today, July 1, 2004, when NTT Docomo launched the iMode FeliCa mobile wallet, called Osaifu Keitai in Japanese… To celebrate the anniversary Docomo has lined up a bunch of point campaigns for all the Osaifu Keitai payment networks: Mobile Suica, iD, QuicPay, Waon, Nanaco, Edy.”
Paris begins contactless transit card rollout
The first of a new range of contactless transit cards and passes are now being made available in Paris, enabling bus, tram and metro users to begin replacing cardboard tickets with contactless alternatives... More
Facebook blockchain wallet boss sets sights on financial services
Facebook exec explains how the new Libra currency will help the company’s core businesses — CNBC — “If we are successful at providing a wallet that allows people to store money securely and send to anyone anywhere in the world, then over time we think there will be an opportunity to provide more financial services for people — you can imagine things like credit,’ Weil said.”
Fiat Chrysler to let drivers order and pay for fuel, food and parking from their vehicles
Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram vehicle owners will be able to use a new Fiat Chrysler mobile wallet to order and pay for a range of services from their vehicles “in the second half of 2019”... More
Bank of America adds instant card issuing to mobile app
Bank of America’s 27 million mobile banking users are now able to request a new or replacement debit card via the app — and instantly receive a digital version of their new card that they can use to start making purchases straight away... More