Belgium is to increase the contactless transaction limit from €25 ($US27.07) to €50 ($US54.54) from 14 April, “to curb the spread of the coronavirus.” More
Belgium increases contactless transaction limit to €50
- 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%
BIS reports on likely impact of Covid-19 on cash, cards and mobile payments
The pandemic may result in increased calls to defend the role of cash, moves towards more quickly introducing central bank digital currencies and a structural increase in the use of mobile, card and online payments, a Bank for International Settlements (BIS) research bulletin analysing the likely impact of Covid-19 says... More
UK supermarkets launch digital volunteer shopping cards
UK supermarket chains Asda and M&S Food are making it possible for customers who are self-isolating to prepay online for purchases that volunteer shoppers can then make in-store on their behalf... More
Walmart updates mobile app for contact-free transactions
Walmart has updated its mobile app to remove the need for shoppers to make physical contact with a self-checkout station when paying with the retail giant’s QR-based Walmart Pay service... More
Coronavirus prompts Publix to install contactless payments in all its US supermarkets
US supermarket chain Publix has rolled out contactless payments across its 1,243 stores “to protect the health and well-being of its customers and associates during the coronavirus pandemic… More
McKinsey: Coronavirus will cost the payments industry $165bn
An analysis of the global payments industry by McKinsey & Company predicts that Covid-19 will result in a loss of revenues of between US$165bn and US$210bn in 2020 — and sets out “ten fundamental changes to the payments ecosystem that will help all of us find a new normal.” More
Canada increases contactless transaction limit by 150%
Visa and Mastercard are increasing the contactless payment limit in Canada by 150%, from C$100 (US$70) to C$250 (US$176). More
Australia doubles contactless transaction limit to A$200
The Australian payments industry has begun implementing an increase in the country’s contactless payments transaction limit, from A$100 (US$60) to A$200 (US$120). More
Fitbit Charge 4 launches with NFC contactless payments
The latest health and fitness tracker from Fitbit comes with contactless payments as standard... More
Visa reports on the impact of Covid-19 on payment volumes
US credit card payment volumes decreased by 7% in March 2020 compared with March 2019, Visa has reported, while cross-border transaction volumes have fallen 19%. More
Qatar triples contactless transaction limit
Banks in Qatar are raising the contactless transaction limit from 100 riyals (US$27.46) to 300 riyals (US$82.39), in a bid to limit the spread of Covid-19. More
EBA recommends Europe-wide contactless transaction limit increase
The European Banking Authority has issued a statement urging the European payments industry to increase contactless transaction limits to €50 (US$54.97). More
Table: Contactless payment transaction limit increases around the world
Updated 28 May: Countries around the world are increasing the contactless transaction limit in a bid to combat the spread of Covid-19. NFCW has collated into one table the increases for each country and will keep it up to date during the crisis. More
Mastercard: 29 countries have now agreed to raise their contactless payment limit
Mastercard is now working with 29 countries across Europe and central Asia to implement increases to their contactless payment transaction limit, the payments network says. More
ST to host NFC reader webinar
PARTNER NEWS: ST is to host a webinar on designing robust, powerful and effective NFC readers for industrial, automotive, consumer and payment applications on 31 March. More
Mastercard, Thales and Tappy explain how watch and wearable brands can add support for payments
KNOWLEDGE CENTRE: The opening session of the Wearable Payment Summit 2020, NFCW’s first online conference, is now available to watch free of charge in our Knowledge Centre... More
UK raises contactless transaction limit by 50%
The spending limit for contactless card payments in the UK is being increased from £30 (US$35.33) to £45 (US$52.99), UK Finance has announced. The new spending limit will begin to roll out from 1 April 2020. More
Germans switch to contactless payments amid coronavirus concerns
“Coronavirus concerns have pushed consumers across Germany to make the switch to using contactless payments for the first time,” The Local.de reports... More
China promotes consumer spending with government mobile payment vouchers
The Chengyang District of the city of Qingdao has become the first in China to use a new WeChat service to issue government vouchers directly to residents’ mobile phones, in a bid to boost consumer spending as the Chinese economy begins to recover from Covid-19... More
Egypt promotes cashless payments with increased contactless transaction limit, free prepaid cards and mobile wallets
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has introduced a series of measures designed to reduce the need for citizens to use cash to make payments, including a doubling of the contactless payment transaction limit and free access to both prepaid card and mobile wallet services. More
