American Express brings the card member experience to the connected home with launch of the Amex skill for Amazon Alexa — American Express — “By linking their online American Express account to the Amex skill, eligible card members with an Alexa-enabled device can check their account balance, review recent charges, make a payment and more through voice commands. The Amex skill for Alexa also connects with the Amex Offers ecosystem, enabling card members to browse certain available limited-time offers and add offers to their eligible cards.”
Amazon
With Echo Show, Amazon seizes the lead in the race to artificial intelligence
With Echo Show, Amazon seizes the lead in the race to artificial intelligence — Forbes — “This 7-inch touchscreen-equipped digital assistant — Echo Show — is the latest addition to the Alexa family, which began as a simple voice-controlled alarm clock and is fast becoming the central hub of digitally connected homes.”
PayPal applies for mobile wallet licence in India?
PayPal has applied for a prepaid payment instrument (PPI) licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to enter the mobile wallet space in the country, according to the Economic Times... More
Amazon gets approval for digital wallet in India
Amazon India has been granted a payment license by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate its own prepaid wallet in the country... More
Amazon customers get in-store cash deposits to fund online payments
Amazon customers across the US can now top up their Amazon balance using cash at “thousands of participating convenience, grocery and drug stores” by showing a printed barcode or a barcode on their mobile device to the cashier. They will then be able to use the funds to make online purchases at Amazon. More
Amazon and Google to add phone calls for virtual assistants?
Consumers with Amazon Echo or Google Home could use the virtual assistant devices to make or receive phone calls later this year, the Wall Street Journal reports... More
Smart home owners can ask Alexa to unlock front door
Homeowners with smart home company August’s Smart Lock system are now able to ask an Amazon Alexa-enabled device to unlock their front door using their voice and a secure voice PIN of four to 12 digits... More
Three in 10 use mobile for Pay with Amazon purchases
Nearly a third (32%) of all transactions made through Pay with Amazon — the service that lets customers make online payments on third-party merchant websites using the information already stored in their Amazon account — were done on a mobile device in 2016... More
Eight in 10 US consumers would prefer an Amazon Go automated store to traditional shopping
Some 84% of US consumers say they would enjoy shopping at an Amazon Go automated store more than a traditional grocery store, but a fifth think they would lose out on traditional shopping experiences by doing so, the results of a survey of 1,000 shoppers released by packaging solutions provider Shorr Packaging show... More
Starbucks customers get voice ordering as mobile orders and payments continue to grow
US consumers can now place orders from coffee giant Starbucks by speaking into the Starbucks iOS mobile app or to Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa. The move comes as the company reveals that mobile orders made up 7% of all its US transactions in the last quarter, with mobile payments now accounting for 27%. More
Mattel includes NFC in AI for kids
Toy maker Mattel has unveiled an NFC-enabled, voice-activated artificial intelligence assistant for children... More
Huawei installs Amazon Alexa on flagship smartphone for US market
Chinese mobile phone giant Huawei is to pre-load Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant on its flagship Mate 9 smartphone, which has now launched in the US, as Amazon bids for a leading role in the emerging voice-activated services market... More
Domino’s offers pizza orders with Google Home
Domino’s Pizza customers can now order pizza through Google Home, the voice-activated home assistant unveiled by Google in October 2016... More
Amazon India launches online wallet
Indian shoppers on Amazon India can now store funds and complete online purchases in a new feature called Amazon Pay Balance, Live Mint reports... More
Las Vegas hotel to install Amazon Echo in every room
Luxury hotel and casino Wynn Las Vegas will install Amazon’s Echo in all its 4,748 rooms by summer 2017... More
Amazon trials drone delivery system in UK
Online retail giant Amazon has begun trials in the UK of a package delivery system using autonomous drones, which aims to deliver goods to customers within 30 minutes... More
Lessons learned from implementing HCE for cloud-based NFC mobile payments — See the webinar now on NFC World
NFC World’s ‘Case study: Lessons learned from implementing HCE for cloud-based NFC mobile payments’ webinar is now available to view online... More
Amazon Go store will let customers shop and go without checkout queues
Amazon employees in the US are testing a physical grocery store format that will use technology developed for self-driving cars to allow consumers with a dedicated mobile app to walk in, pick up the items they want and leave without going through a traditional checkout... More
iPayYou enables Bitcoin payments on Amazon
Customers will now be able to pay for Amazon purchases using Bitcoin through Bitcoin wallet iPayYou’s Amazon Direct service... More
AT&T customers can ask Alexa to text a friend
Customers of US telecoms giant AT&T can send text messages to up to 10 contacts using Amazon’s Alexa artificial intelligence assistant... More