UK spending on contactless cards rose more than threefold in 2015 to reach £7.75bn (US$10.8bn), research from The UK Cards Association reveals, meaning that total contactless spending last year was more than double that of the preceding seven years combined. More
Payment networks China UnionPay and Visa have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Shanghai to collaborate on “providing cardholders with more convenient, secure and highly efficient payment services” with a focus on security, innovation and financial inclusion... More
Commuters in Singapore can now top up their Nets FlashPay and AutoPass Cards by tapping them against an NFC Android smartphone running the FlashPay Reader app... More
Some 37% of US merchant locations are now EMV-ready, according to management consulting firm The Strawhecker Group (TSG)... More
PARTNER NEWS: Digital security specialist Gemalto’s Mobile ID solution has been accredited by the GSMA’s Mobile Connect program, an initiative that aims to help mobile network operators provide a universal phone-based identity and authentication service to consumers worldwide... More
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Indian closed-loop mobile wallet provider FreeCharge has partnered with mobile point of sale provider Ezetap to let its users make in-store mobile payments at “thousands of Ezetap service points consisting of small and mid-sized retailers across India”... More
Consumers in New York, Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles can now make P2P cash withdrawals using a PIN code sent to their mobile phone at ATMs equipped with technology from Pin4 and ATM network operator Payment Alliance International... More
Trust in Apple as a mobile wallet provider has increased to 25% among UK consumers, nearing the 27% trust shown for MasterCard, market researcher Marketing Sciences reveals... More
Visa is expanding its online payment service to France, India, Ireland, Poland, Spain and the UK this year, taking the total footprint to 22 markets... More
A total of 1.09bn people will be making mobile proximity payments globally by 2019, of which 939.10m will be made through NFC, Ovum’s new m-payments forecast reveals. The total transaction value of mobile proximity payments will grow from US$4.77bn to $141.21bn over the same time period. More
PARTNER NEWS: NXP has put its support behind two new reference platforms that will enable “innovation and rapid development” for smart wearables. The platforms target a range of internet of things (IoT) applications with open-source hardware and software, form-factor flexibility and expandable solutions for designers to adapt to changing market needs. More
Car manufacturer Seat, Samsung Electronics and software giant SAP have created a technological alliance to develop connected car projects that could enable drivers to reserve car parking spaces and pay with a fingerprint using Samsung Pay. The companies are showing their ideas at Mobile World Congress this week. More
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Customers of Hungarian mobile network operator Telenor can now make online and in-app payments using Telenor Wallet and MasterPass... More
Users of Chase Pay will soon be able to buy food and drinks at more than 7,500 Starbucks cafés in the US through the coffee chain’s own mobile app or with the Chase Pay app... More
PARTNER NEWS: Digital security giant Gemalto and payment processor Prosa have partnered to bring host card emulation (HCE) based mobile payments to Mexico. Prosa operates in eight Latin American countries and will be offering the service to all of its customers, which include “95% of credit, debit and prepaid card issuers in Mexico”. More
Customers of four Canadian credit unions will be able to make host card emulation (HCE) based mobile payments at Interac Flash contactless terminals across the country from this spring. The service will be the first to use Interac’s Token Service Provider (TSP), the tokenization platform launched this week. More
Limited merchant acceptance points, fragmentation and consumer concerns over security and privacy will remain “substantial hurdles” to mobile payments at the physical point of sale in 2016, according to analysts at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta... More
Vodafone Spain is to begin rolling out NFC mobile ticketing through its Vodafone Wallet in cities across Spain. The mobile network operator has teamed up with Gemalto and transport ticket provider PrePay Technologies to develop the platform, which will enable “any public transport agency or body to offer mobile accessible public transport”. More
PARTNER NEWS: NXP has unveiled two new NFC products — an improved “connected tag” range designed to add intelligent tap-and-go connectivity to just about any electronic device and the PN7462 family of single chip NFC reader solutions that combine a microprocessor with USB, contact and contactless interfaces. More
ID specialist Morpho is working with Visa to explore payment concepts using new security technologies including biometric recognition... More