BharatPe launches two new features in its app to curb need to touch handsets for checking transactions — Economic Times — “With Paisa Bolega — voice alerts of transactions — shopkeepers will be able to hear aloud instant confirmation of all payments received through their BharatPe QR, without touching the phone… This does away [with] the need for the merchant to check his phone repeatedly to see if money has come in.”
- Samsung Money to go live in the US this summer
- Google pilots voice-based payments
- India to open antitrust investigation into Google Pay?
- Metrolinx to let iPhone users top up Presto transit cards via NFC
- Morocco boosts contactless transaction limit by 100%
UK consumers report growing concerns over using ATMs and payment terminals
Touching technology: preparing for a post-pandemic future — Foolproof — “Since the outbreak, three out of four people say they are now more concerned than before about ATMs, a similar number about touchscreens in GP surgeries and more than half of users are more concerned than before about smartphones. Previously much less of a worry, card payment terminals are now more of a concern for six out of ten users, making it into the top 5 touchpoints of concern.”
Survey finds 84% of consumers are ‘thinking differently about how they make payments’
Over half of UK consumers have tried a new payment method since the outbreak of Covid-19 — Paysafe — “In the company’s latest ‘Lost in Transaction’ survey, in which 8,000 consumers globally were asked about their payment habits, findings revealed that 54% of UK consumers have used new forms of payments since the Covid-19 outbreak began, and 84% of respondents globally admitted they were now thinking differently about how they make payments.”
Berg Insight releases contactless POS terminal market stats
Shipments of NFC-ready POS terminals reached 47.8m units globally in 2019, bringing the total to 100.4m worldwide, according to Berg Insight... More
NFC Forum spec lets consumers use NFC phones to wirelessly charge small devices
The NFC Forum has formally adopted a wireless charging specification that enables a single antenna in an NFC-enabled device to manage both communications and charging. More
Payments Europe joins call for EU-wide delay to strong customer authentication deadline
Position paper on strong customer authentication: Industry readiness — Payments Europe — “Payments Europe calls upon the European Banking Authority (EBA) and National Competent Authorities (NCA) to give the industry and businesses more time to adopt the Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) requirements, beyond the current 31 December 2020 deadline for implementation.”
Blackhawk Network lets UK consumers make digital gift card payments in stores
PARTNER NEWS: Blackhawk Network subsidiary One4all is using Dejamobile’s ReadyToTap Gifts & Rewards solution to make it possible for UK consumers and businesses to send a digital gift card directly to a recipient’s mobile phone — and for the recipient to then use it to make payments online and at contactless terminals in stores... More
Belgian consumers double their use of contactless payments
Coronavirus has a major impact on our payment behaviour — Febelfin (translation) — “Since the limits increased, more than one in four card payments are handled contactlessly. 29% of card payments were made via contactless in April. This represents a doubling compared to February of this year (16%).”
Visa to provide merchants with ‘Tap to pay preferred’ decals to promote contactless payments in stores
Visa has unveiled a series of ‘tap to pay preferred’, ‘we are now cashless’, ‘how to pay contactless’ and ‘tap to pay encouraged’ decals, POS terminal stickers and toppers, table tents and mats to promote the use of contactless payments in stores... More
Visa reports on impact of Covid-19 on contactless payment adoption
“While the full impact of Covid-19 on tap to pay adoption across the world is yet to be fully seen, early indications highlight a shift in consumer spend toward every day, essential segments where contactless usage is high, such as grocery and pharmacy,” Visa says. More
Google Pay adds food ordering and payments in Singapore
You can now search for Singapore food places with delivery, pick-up options on Google Pay — Channel News Asia — “The new free feature allows users to look through menus, select items then order and pay through the platform, after which they can self-collect or get the food delivered.”
Facebook adds grocery ordering to WhatsApp in India
Facebook-backed Reliance Jio pilots basic grocery ordering service on WhatsApp in India — The Next Web — “Less than a week ago, Facebook announced it was investing $5.7bn into India’s largest mobile carrier, Reliance Jio. We now have an idea of how the two giants plan to collaborate: The latter’s ecommerce arm, JioMart, is now testing a system for WhatsApp users to order goods via the messaging service.”
Mastercard reports 40% growth in contactless transaction volumes
“We have seen over 40% growth in contactless transactions worldwide in the first quarter,” Mastercard president Michael Miebach has revealed, with “more than half of new tappers saying they will continue to use contactless once this pandemic is over.” More
UK extends strong customer authentication deadline
Strong customer authentication and coronavirus — Financial Conduct Authority — “In the exceptional circumstances of the Covid crisis, we are giving the industry an additional six months to implement strong customer authentication (SCA) for e-commerce. This will minimise potential disruption to consumers and merchants. The new timeline of 14 September 2021 replaces the 14 March 2021 date.”
Safaricom partners with Visa for M-Pesa digital payments
Safaricom and Visa join forces in seeking to expand access to digital payments for M-Pesa consumers and merchants — Safaricom — “The partnership will cover over 24 million M-Pesa customers, more than 173,000 Lipa Na M-Pesa merchants from Safaricom and more than 61m merchant locations throughout Visa’s global network, and over 3.4bn Visa cards in more than 200 countries and territories, subject to regulatory approval.”
MBTA redesigns its new ticketing system ‘to adapt to future needs’
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) is to spend an additional US$212.1m on its new transit ticketing infrastructure, to enable support for a range of new options including the ability to integrate ferry and local rail services and to charge riders different fares depending on the time of day they travel... More
Central banks increase contactless transaction limit in UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait
Central banks in the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait have all increased the contactless transaction limits in their country, in a bid to combat the spread of Covid-19... More
JCB rolls out contactless payments acceptance on standard Android devices
JCB has launched Tap on Mobile, a contactless payments acceptance solution that uses off-the-shelf Android NFC devices to enable its acquirers to offer “a cost-effective payment solution to their merchants”. More
Westpac goes live with Apple Pay
Westpac switches on Apple Pay for customers — Westpac — “Apple Pay is now available for Westpac customers with an eligible Mastercard debit or credit card, or eftpos Handycard… Debit card holders can now choose the payment option linked to their card when they pay with Apple Pay, including ‘Mastercard Debit’, ‘eftpos CHQ’ and ‘eftpos SAV’.”
LG pilots face-based digital currency payments in unmanned convenience store
LG CNS is piloting a new payments solution that combines face recognition, a blockchain-based digital currency and AI technology to let shoppers enter an unmanned store, shop and check out — without needing to come into close contact with either employees or POS equipment... More
