Kroger, the US supermarket chain that has previously held out against the introduction of NFC payments, has begun piloting NFC-based contactless payments in 61 of its QFC grocery stores in Oregon and Washington states... More
California merchants roll out facial verification payments system
Retail outlets and restaurants in the California city of Pasadena have adopted a hands-free payments service which enables consumers to make purchases and earn loyalty rewards using facial recognition technology... More
Samsung includes NXP secure UWB chip in Galaxy Note20 Ultra
PARTNER NEWS: Samsung has launched the first Android device to include an ultra wideband (UWB) chip — and is using a chipset from NXP that includes both NFC and a secure element to enable it... More
Germany to begin rollout of open national digital identity service ‘later this year’
German consumers with a Galaxy S20 mobile phone will be the first to be able to use a new government-backed service that allows citizens to securely store their national ID on an embedded secure element in their smartphone, Samsung has announced... More
Croatian merchants to leverage NFC for in-store consumer reviews
Croatian digital marketing agency Mint Media has launched a new service that lets consumers tap an NFC-enabled review board to quickly and easily leave a TripAdvisor, Google or Facebook review for a local business... More
Afterpay lets US consumers pay by instalments with their NFC mobile phone
Australia-based buy now, pay later specialist Afterpay is launching a service that lets US consumers make NFC payments in stores — and then pay for their purchases in four equal instalments... More
Orange Bank introduces mobile-first debit card in Spain
Customers of Orange Bank in Spain will now be automatically issued with a digital debit card that they can use to instantly begin making mobile payments both online and in-store — and can also request a companion physical card that comes without a printed card number, CVC code or expiration date... More
US Bank lets companies instantly send a corporate card to employees’ mobile phones
Corporate customers of US Bank can now send a digital corporate card directly to an employee, contractor, volunteer or customer’s mobile phone, enabling them to instantly begin charging online and in-store purchases to the company — subject to a strict spending limit and expiration date... More
Nedbank to roll out support for contactless payments on standard NFC smartphones
South Africa’s Nedbank has become the first bank in Africa to enable merchants to accept contactless payments on standard NFC phones... More
Google Pay to evolve into ‘one-stop portal’ for commerce?
Google is working on “a major overhaul” of Google Pay that will see the service expanding into “a one-stop portal for commerce”, The Information reports... More
Stocard picks Dejamobile to add payments to mobile loyalty app
PARTNER NEWS: European mobile loyalty wallet leader Stocard has added support for NFC payments to its app as it looks to evolve its digital wallet into an all-in-one payments, banking and shopping service... More
Taipei light rail offers 50% discounts to mobile payment users
Passengers travelling on Taipei’s Danhai Light Rail service over the next three months will receive a 50% discount on the usual fare when they choose to pay with their mobile phone, operator New Taipei Metro Corporation (NTMC) has announced... More
Google pilots voice-based payments
Google is piloting a new service that lets Google Assistant users confirm payment for a purchase with just their voice... More
India to open antitrust investigation into Google Pay?
The Competition Commission of India is looking into allegations that Google is unfairly promoting its mobile payments app in the country, “five sources familiar with the case” have told Reuters... More
Metrolinx to let iPhone users top up Presto transit cards via NFC
Apple iPhone users in Toronto, Ottawa and Hamilton will soon be able to use their Presto app to top up their transit card via NFC... More
Garmin lets Japanese commuters add Suica transit cards to smart wearables
Garmin smartwatch owners in Japan can now add their Suica transit card to their wearable device and use it to pay for public transportation and at stores that accept Suica payments... More
Transact rolls out Android NFC student IDs at 16 US universities
Campus card solutions provider Transact has rolled out support for Android NFC student IDs, integrated with Google Pay, to 16 US universities... More
Australia records sharp increase in NFC mobile payments adoption
A total of 10.8% of Australians are now using Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay, up from 7.1% a year ago, a new report from market researchers Roy Morgan has found... More
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
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.”