Pointing the finger at biometric card misconceptions — Mastercard — “Introduced in 2017, the Mastercard biometric card has been piloted in Africa, Europe and the Middle East with additional countries being added this year… We are working on a contactless solution to be ready in early 2019.”
Mastercard
Google Pay goes live in Italy
Google Pay has arrived — Google Blog Italia (translation) — “Simply add a credit, debit or prepaid card (Maestro, MasterCard, Visa) issued by any of the supported banks and credit institutions to the Google Pay app — including Banca Mediolanum, Boon, Hype, Nexi, N26, Revolut, Widiba and, in the coming months, Iccrea Banca and Poste Italiane — to turn your Android smartphone into a wallet. Users can also activate the service directly in the mobile banking app of their bank.”
Mastercard comes under fire for sharing transaction data with Google
Google and Mastercard cut a secret ad deal to track retail sales — Bloomberg — “For the past year, select Google advertisers have had access to a potent new tool to track whether the ads they ran online led to a sale at a physical store in the US. That insight came thanks in part to a stockpile of Mastercard transactions that Google paid for… Google paid Mastercard millions of dollars for the data, according to two people who worked on the deal.”
Microsoft rolls out support for Masterpass payments
Microsoft Pay is now available with Masterpass — Microsoft — “US-based consumers using the latest Microsoft Edge browser on Windows 10 devices can sign in to their Microsoft account and use Microsoft Pay to make secure purchases wherever Masterpass is accepted online. More broadly, Microsoft Pay allows for a seamless and convenient consumer experience within the Microsoft ecosystem, including paying bills in Outlook, and buying goods or services in apps or bots.”
TransLink reports fast uptake of contactless payments on Vancouver transit system
One millions taps — Tap to Pay hits a milestone — TransLink — “It’s been two months since we launched Tap to Pay and we are happy to share our customers have embraced this new payment option in a big way. To date, there have been 160,000 unique users who have tapped their contactless credit cards and mobile wallets… Customers can tap card readers with a contactless Visa or Mastercard credit card, or a device with an Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay wallet.”
Mastercard patent proposes combining blockchain with existing payments systems
Method and system for linkage of blockchain-based assets to fiat currency accounts — USPTO — “The use of traditional payment networks and payment systems technologies in combination with blockchain currencies may provide consumers and merchants the benefits of the decentralized blockchain while still maintaining security of account information and provide a strong defense against fraud and theft.”
Mastercard and Worldpay to let merchants accept payments direct from customers’ bank accounts
Worldpay and Mastercard to enter new global partnership focused on innovating payments — Worldpay — “Under the partnership, Worldpay will offer the ‘Pay by Bank’ app — a new way to pay — to merchants in the UK starting in early 2019. Created by Mastercard’s Vocalink business, the ‘Pay by Bank’ app enables customers of UK businesses to make online payments for goods and services via their banking app, and directly from their bank account.”
Piraeus Bank picks Antelop as its mobile payments provider
PARTNER NEWS: Piraeus Bank, the largest card issuer in Greece, has selected Antelop Solutions as its long-term e-wallet and digital payments partner, enabling the bank to provide its customers with a large range of cutting edge mobile wallet and payments capabilities... More
Antelop adds Visa Token Service certification to its white label mobile wallet platform for banks and card issuers
PARTNER NEWS: Antelop Solutions has received certification from Visa as a Token Requestor-Token Service Provider (TR-TSP), enabling banks and card issuers to use its white-label multi-scheme SaaS solution to launch their own NFC mobile payment solutions based on Visa Token Service (VTS)... More
Mastercard unveils smart mirror that lets shoppers make payments in the fitting room
Mastercard to shake up shopping with new Smart Mirror with payment function — The Industry — “The mirror recognises products as they enter the fitting room, creating a virtual shopping basket and a multi-sensory shopping experience. It allows shoppers to change lighting and language, view/request size and colour variations, seek out further recommended items, request garments to be brought directly to the fitting room and finally, pay seamlessly and instantly by tapping the mirror with a card, payment device or through the app.”
Mastercard adds blockchain card verification patent
Method and system for payment card verification via blockchain — USPTO — “The present disclosure provides a description of systems and methods for the conveyance and receipt of payment credentials to and at a point of sale device through the use of a third party data source. The use of a third party data source enables an individual to transact safely without concern for their payment credentials being skimmed from their payment instrument, or without having to even carry a payment instrument entirely.”
Mastercard reports on the potential of conversational commerce
Trust, convenience and ease of use will be key to enabling the full potential of voice-assisted conversational commerce, Mastercard explains in a new paper which is now available to download from the NFC World Knowledge Centre... More
NXP launches full-service NFC mobile wallet platform for wearable, mobile and IoT device makers
PARTNER NEWS: NXP’s new mWallet 2GO platform offers OEMs a pre-certified and validated turnkey payments solution and is being used by luxury brand Montblanc to add Visa and Mastercard payments capabilities to its watches, via its new Twin smart strap... More
Mastercard to build open banking connectivity hub
Mastercard unveils solutions to underpin open banking transformation — Mastercard — “Mastercard announced today that it is developing a new suite of services to underpin the transformation taking place in the industry as partners ready themselves to take advantage of Europe’s PSD2 legislation… They will incorporate a pan-European directory of third party providers to help banks to ensure that parties seeking access to a customer’s account are legitimate… They will also feature a connectivity hub that will help third parties establish and maintain communication with banks.”
Valitor picks Dejamobile to offer mobile payments and branded mobile wallets to clients
PARTNER NEWS: Payment solutions provider Valitor is to use Dejamobile’s cloud-based payments platform to provide its clients with the ability to add mobile payments and a branded mobile wallet to their services... More
Mastercard to pilot cardless ATM withdrawals
It’s app, tap and go at ATMs thanks to Mastercard and Diebold Nixdorf — Mastercard — “Here’s how it works: Consumers open their bank’s app on their smartphone. They use the app to find nearby ATMs, choose the amount they want to withdraw and see the associated fees. Once at the ATM, they quickly snap or tap, often by scanning a QR code, authenticate using optional biometrics on device, and take the dispensed cash.”
Italian merchants to pilot PIN-on-mobile payments
Ingenico and Nexi test in Italy an innovative PIN-on-mobile solution compliant with Visa and Mastercard requirements — Ingenico — “With PIN-on-mobile, card owners manually enter their PIN on a non PCI-PTS device owned by a merchant, such as a smartphone or tablet. The transactions are considered as ‘card present’… This solution will be on a six-month trial period and the pilot project will include 1000+ secure card readers (SCR) to read EMV and contactless bank cards.”
Retailers raise concerns over card networks’ plans for a single buy button
Visa, Mastercard push for one-click ordering. Retailers say ‘not so fast’ — The Wall Street Journal — “Representatives of large retailers including Walmart Inc and Home Depot Inc met with federal regulators this week to raise concerns about a new online payment initiative that Visa Inc and Mastercard Inc are preparing to roll out… Retailers’ main concern with combining the buttons is that merchants won’t be able to route their debit card transactions to lower-cost networks.”
Translink adds mobile payments for transit users in Vancouver
Tap to Pay — Translink — “On May 22, our card readers will accept contactless Visa and Mastercard credit cards and Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. For customers without Compass Cards, this new feature will mean no more ticket line-ups, digging for exact change, or worrying about pre-calculating zones. You can tap a contactless Visa or Mastercard credit card or mobile-payment method on card readers to pay your adult, cash fare. Note: card readers will not accept debit cards.”
US Bank to test connected fleet car payments
Mastercard and US Bank Voyager put fleet managers in the driver’s seat — Mastercard — “Mastercard today unveiled a new service to automatically integrate fuel and maintenance data from a connected car’s dashboard into the payment process… US Bank will be the first to pilot these new features, giving fleet managers the flexibility, visibility and control to manage day-to-day expenses.”