Swiss watchdog investigates banks over alleged payments system boycott — Reuters — “Switzerland’s competition watchdog has raided the offices of financial companies, including Credit Suisse and UBS, to investigate a suspected boycott of mobile payment solutions such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay… ‘There is the suspicion that the companies agreed not to make their credit cards available for use with Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, in order to favor the Swiss solution Twint,’ competition commission Weko said.”
- 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!
Walmart equips staff in 3,000+ stores with mobile POS devices
Walmart is expanding its Check Out with Me service to all its 3,000+ Supercenters across the US “just in time for the holidays”. The move follows a successful rollout of mobile POS devices at the retailer’s US garden centres earlier this year. More
KBC to pilot multiple wearable payments options
Belgian bank KBC is inviting customers to take part in a year-long wearable payments pilot, with each being offered the choice of testing an NFC-enabled ring, keyfob, wristband or watch. More
Deutsche Bank unveils loyalty-first mobile wallet venture
Deutsche Bank has launched Yunar, a wholly-owned subsidiary startup that is taking a loyalty-first approach to building out a fully featured mobile wallet by initially offering a simple way to manage up to 200 loyalty points schemes — and then gradually adding a range of mobile payments and banking services as adoption takes off. More
Chase to issue contactless cards to “millions” of US credit and debit cardholders
Chase, the largest credit card issuer in the US, is to begin issuing contactless Visa credit cards to “millions” of customers during the first half of 2019. Debit card holders will begin receiving contactless cards during the second half of the year. More
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Network West Midlands integrates its transit card with Google Pay
UK regional transportation operator Network West Midlands is piloting a new service that lets its Swift transit card holders store their cards in Google Pay, enabling Android NFC phone owners to tap on to West Midlands Metro trams without needing to first open an app or select their Swift card. More
Android patches add NFC support for Google’s Titan security keys
Google has fixed an issue which prevented their Titan security keys, launched in August, from authenticating with Android devices via NFC. More
Fossil launches sports watch with NFC payments
Watchmaker Fossil has added a Wear OS smartwatch to its range of NFC-enabled wearable payments devices. More
Veterans charity uses contactless cards to collect donations via NFC
The Royal British Legion is distributing contactless cards at charity events in the UK which participants can scan with an NFC phone to be automatically directed to a website where they can make a donation using either Paypal or a bank card. More
PNC Bank to offer dynamic CVV cards to commercial customers
PNC Bank is piloting dynamic CVV cards that use an e-ink screen on the reverse of the card to display a continuously updated three-digit CVV security code. The US-based bank plans to begin offering the cards to its Treasury Management division’s commercial cardholders in early 2019. More
Singapore Post adds NFC tags to 15,000 mail boxes
Singapore Post has equipped each of its 1,000 mail carriers with a mobile app that they can use to track their deliveries by scanning NFC tags the national postal service has attached to 15,000 delivery points and ‘letterbox nests’ across the island. More
Google Pay goes live in the United Arab Emirates
Google Pay is now available in the United Arab Emirates — 9to5Google — “While not officially announced, the United Arab Emirates was added to various Google Pay support pages today, indicating its imminent availability… It is only available through a handful of banks for now… EIB, ENBD, Mashreq, Standard Chartered.”
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Intesa Sanpaolo pilots contactless biometric payment card in Italy
Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo bank has announced Europe’s first pilot test of a contactless biometric payment card... More
Los Angeles Football Club rolls out NFC ticketing on Apple Watch and iPhones
Los Angeles Football Club fans attending matches at the Major League Soccer club’s Banc of California stadium are now able to use Apple’s new Express Card NFC functionality to gain access to the venue by simply tapping their iPhone or Apple Watch at entry turnstiles equipped with contactless readers. More
Sam’s Club unveils mobile-first store that showcases the latest payments and retail technologies
Walmart-owned Sam’s Club is opening a new store in Dallas, Texas that will double as both a technology lab and a live retail store, enabling both customers and staff to test and make use of the latest developments in retail and payments technology. More
Target equips staff with mobile POS terminals for faster Black Friday checkout
US discount store giant Target is equipping staff across its 1,800+ shops with mobile POS terminals “that’ll let you skip those Black Friday lines.” More
7-Eleven pilots mobile self-checkout in 14 US stores
Convenience store giant 7-Eleven is piloting a mobile self-checkout service in 14 stores in the Dallas area, just two months after it began accepting contactless and mobile payments across its 8,000+ US stores. More
Rémy Cointreau to include NFC tags in Louis XIII crystal decanters
Rémy Cointreau is to integrate an NFC chip into the cork stopper of all the decanters produced by its Louis XIII luxury cognac brand to make it easy for buyers to register their purchase and become a member of the Louis XIII Society, a private club “where members can enjoy exclusive content, unique experiences and personalized services through their smartphones.” More
Google Pay rolls out across Scandinavia
Google Pay is now live in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland, with support from Jyske Bank, Nordea and Revolut in Denmark, Nordea, Revolut, Monobank, Storebrand Bank and Sparebanken Sør in Norway, Nordea, Revolut, Länsförsäkringar Bank and Sodexo in Sweden and Nordea, Revolut and Edenred in Finland. More
Report: Apple Pay to launch in Belgium ‘in November’
Apple Pay will go live in Belgium this month, local news service De Tijd reports, eighteen months after Google Pay launched in the country... More