NFC World partners Antelop Solutions, Dejamobile, NXP, Rambus, STMicroelectronics and Tappy Technologies will be in Barcelona for MWC19 from Monday 25 to Thursday 28 February. Here’s what you can expect to see and where you can find them during the show… More
PARTNER NEWS: Hong Kong-based Tappy Technologies offers a range of wearable payments products including watch straps, wristbands and key fobs that come with an embedded contactless payment chip. Customers include Barclays bPay, Icici Bank, Axis Bank, Etisalat, Timex, Mondaine and Guess. More
PARTNER NEWS: STMicroelectronics has begun shipping the ST25R3916, an NFC universal device that contains “innovative features to simplify the design of payment terminals and ease compliance with new EMVCo 3.0 contactless interoperability tests for cards, mobiles, and wearables.” More
Belfast tech startup using automated lip-reading to make user authentication systems more resistant to spoofing attacks — Liopa — “LipSecure works in conjunction with the vendor’s existing FR [facial recognition] system and prompts the user to repeat a random sequence of digits that appear on their screen. Liopa’s AI-based Visual Speech Recognition (VSR) technology checks if the digits have been spoken or mimed correctly and thus determines if there is a ‘live’ person present.”
PARTNER NEWS: NXP is adding support for FeliCa, the Japanese variant of NFC, to its NFC chipsets, beginning with a new PN81 series. The move will enable Japanese consumers to access global NFC applications “while worldwide travellers can securely perform FeliCa payment and ticketing services with their devices”. More
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UPDATED J-Coin Pay, a digital currency-based payments service that will support both P2P payments and enable consumers to make QR mobile payments in stores, will go live in Japan on 1 March, developer Mizuho Financial Group has announced. More
Technical specification: Cyber Security for Consumer Internet of Things — ETSI — “Provision 4.4-1: Credentials and security-sensitive data shall be stored securely within services and on devices… Secure, trusted storage mechanisms can be used to secure security-sensitive data, such as those provided by a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) and associated trusted, secure storage, or the secure storage and processing capabilities of software running on a Universal Integrated Circuit Card UICC/embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card (eUICC).”
Positive interim results of the market test with automatic ticketing — SBB (translation) — “With the SBB Preview App, customers can check in with the ‘EasyRide’ function when they start their journey and check themselves out at any location. ‘EasyRide function’ recognizes the distance travelled and automatically books the appropriate ticket, and always at the fairest price… The definitive introduction of ‘EasyRide’ on SBB Mobile is scheduled for next year.”
Better security for ID documents: Council Presidency and European Parliament reach provisional agreement — The Council of the European Union — “Under the proposed new rules, identity cards will have to be produced in a uniform, credit card format (ID-1), include a machine-readable zone, and follow the minimum security standards set out by ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation). They will also need to include a photo and two fingerprints of the cardholder, stored in a digital format, on a contactless chip.”
SKT teams up with Deutsche Telekom for blockchain biz — Korea Times — “SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom’s T-Labs will work together to develop and commercialize blockchain-based mobile identification that can be utilized in various areas including access control, dealings and contracts… The firm said blockchain-based digital identification could also replace identification cards issued by the government such as passports.”
PayPal CEO predicts digital payments industry will mature into a $100 trillion market — CNBC — “PayPal CEO Dan Schulman told CNBC that the digital payments industry may become a US$100tn market as the financial technology sector continues to grow rapidly… ‘We live in the space of digital commerce and digital commerce is exploding still around the world,’ he said. ‘There’s an explosion in digital commerce and we’re riding that wave.'”
Citymapper Pass — Citymapper — “Our Pass on day one will cover public transport, cycles (Santander’s Docked scheme) and cabs (our Citymapper Ride service). Over time we will add other modes and partners such as additional cycle and cab services, car sharing, scooters and well.. whatever else gets invented next… Pass will integrate with Apple Pay and Google Pay so users can decide to use them as virtual cards as well.”
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Apple, Goldman Sachs team up on credit card paired with iPhone — The Wall Street Journal — “The card will be rolled out to employees for testing in the next few weeks and officially launch later this year, according to people familiar with the matter. The companies hope to lure cardholders by offering them extra features on Apple’s Wallet app, which will let them set spending goals, track their rewards and manage their balances, the people said.”
STMicroelectronics breaks major milestone for ST33 secure chips with over one billion sold to secure the connected world — STMicroelectronics — “STMicroelectronics… has recorded cumulative sales of over one billion units for its ST33 embedded-security ICs… Based on a common certified secure platform featuring state-of-the-art cyber protection, the ST33 family’s flexible architecture has enabled ST to lead the development of new classes of security chips including embedded SIMs (eSIMs), embedded secure elements (eSEs), and trusted platform modules (TPMs).”
Cashing In: How to make negative interest rates work — International Monetary Fund — “In a cashless world, there would be no lower bound on interest rates. A central bank could reduce the policy rate from, say, 2% percent to -4% to counter a severe recession… Without cash, depositors would have to pay the negative interest rate to keep their money with the bank, making consumption and investment more attractive. This would jolt lending, boost demand, and stimulate the economy.”
Apple Pay adoption continues to climb — Loup Ventures — “We estimate, based on our survey work as well as the growth in transactions, countries, locations, and banks, that 43% of global iPhone users have enabled Apple Pay. This is up from 36% in Sep-18 and 20% in Dec-17. That implies there are currently 383m Apple Pay users, up 21% sequentially and 135% y/y… We estimate that 24% of US iPhone users have used Apple Pay vs 47% of international users.”
Snapchat is using AR to transform an empty shop into a pop-up Lego Wear Store — Evening Standard — “When you enter the store, you need to scan a Snapcode on the photo-sharing app, which uses augmented reality (AR) technology to showcase the clothes and in-store displays… Prospective buyers can purchase clothing through the integrated ‘shop now’ feature on Snapchat. This takes them through to the Lego Wear e-commerce site where they can select their preferred item and have it delivered to their home.”
Lloyds Banking Group announces pilot scheme to boost the number of retailers offering cashback — Lloyds Banking Group — “There are tens of thousands of local high street shops which have the infrastructure in place to offer a cashback service but may not see it as a viable option — especially without a purchase — as they do not receive a fee for providing cashback… We need to make it more viable for them [to] offer cashback to all customers, whether making a purchase or not.”
Biometric scans for discounted metro rides in Delhi — The Times of India — “In the new fare collection system, it will be possible to issue smart cards to individuals with their biometric data stored in them, ensuring that only they could use the card and not anyone else. Commuters, who will be provided concession on metro fares, need to get their finger scanned while entering or exiting a metro station, to ensure that only genuine commuters get the benefit of the concession.”
Mexico pushes mobile payments to help unbanked consumers ditch cash — Reuters — “Mexico’s new leftist government is betting on financial technology to help lift people out of poverty… It is planning a digital payments system run and built by the central bank that will allow Mexicans to make and receive payments through their smartphones free of charge. A pilot roll-out for the platform, known as CoDi, is expected by March.”