“The arrival of the world leading mobile payment technology on the Ukrainian market is a decisive stimulus for large and small businesses to actively switch to cashless technology,” says Alexei Shaban, retail business manager at PrivatBank, the first Ukrainian bank to make Apple Pay available to its customers... More
National Bank of Kuwait and Mastercard make GCC debut of pioneering biometric solutions — Zawya — “NBK customers will be the first in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region to experience Mastercard’s Identity Check online authentication solution, while a pilot program for an innovative biometric card with an embedded fingerprint sensor will be a first for the GCC.”
Q1 2018 Mastercard Inc earnings conference call — Mastercard — “I’m a big supporter of the single checkout button. I think it’s transformative for the industry as a whole, for the ecosystem… Somewhere over the course of the latter part of this year, you’ll begin to see the first aspects of this coming out into the marketplace. You’ll probably see a real push in the early part of next year.”
Mastercard pioneers remote biometric card enrolment — Mastercard — “Through significant research and development, a revolutionary battery-powered sleeve will now let people self-enrol their contact or contactless biometric card. Their fingerprint is scanned by the sensor on the card and an encrypted digital template is created and securely stored… ‘Now we have a sleeve to register fingerprints so people don’t have to make a trip to a bank branch.'”
Shiny new button may help Visa, Mastercard and AmEx fight PayPal — Bloomberg — “Visa Inc and Mastercard Inc, the world’s largest card networks, told an industry conference they will combine their Visa Checkout and Masterpass payment options into a single button. Spokesmen for American Express Co and Discover Financial Services said their firms also will join the project… The new system will rely on Visa and Mastercard’s token technology.”
Samsung Canada teams up with RBC to expand Samsung Pay availability to Canadians — Samsung — “This latest announcement follows the expanded Canadian availability of Samsung Pay, with RBC joining existing Samsung Pay partners including CIBC, American Express Canada, ATB Financial, Interac Debit, Mastercard, Scotiabank and Visa Canada.”
Method and system for identity and credential protection and verification via blockchain — USPTO — “The present disclosure relates to the storage and verification and identity and credential data, specifically the use of distributed storage and storage via blockchain for protection of identity and credential data and the verification thereof.”
PARTNER NEWS: Crédit Agricole has added support for Visa cards to its HCE mobile payments service, enabling both Mastercard and Visa cardholders to make use of its Ma Carte application and Paylib, the French interbank payment brand, for the first time... More
Fitbit introduces Fitbit Versa, the smartwatch for all — Fitbit — “Leave your wallet at home and easily pay in any store where contactless payments are accepted… Now available with Fitbit Pay on Fitbit Versa Special Edition products; supported by nearly 40 banks in 14 countries, through eligible US American Express, Mastercard and Visa cards, with more countries and banks rolling out in 2018.”
Mastercard uses Facebook Messenger to help small businesses go digital — Mastercard — “To get started, businesses can send a request to the bot to enable QR payments, receive approval from the bank, set up an account and start accepting digital payments in a fast, simple and secure manner. Once the account setup process is complete, business owners can print and display the QR code in their stores or save the code on their phones… This Messenger experience will launch in Nigeria”
Over 175 million Europeans ready to pay with wearable devices — Mastercard — “Overwhelming success of contactless cards peaks shopper demand for wearable payments… One quarter (24%) of Europeans expect to start using ‘tap and go’ contactless payments with a smartwatch, bracelet, keyring or other forms of wearable payments.”
Betting on contactless: Mastercard pushes chips to center of table — Mastercard — “After October 2018, all new acceptance terminals in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia Pacific will have EMV chip and contactless enabled; After April 2019, all new cards issued in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia Pacific will have EMV chip and contactless technology; and by April 2023, all merchant terminals in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America will be EMV chip and contactless enabled.”
Samsung Pay now available in Mexico — Samsung — “To bring this service to Mexico, Samsung strategically partnered with some of the country’s leading financial partners, including payment providers (American Express, MasterCard and Visa); banks (Banorte, Banregio, Citibanamex, HSBC and Santander); and banking acquirers, services and tools such as Clip and iZettle… Samsung Pay’s entry into the Mexican market marks the second Latin American country to receive the service and the 20th market worldwide.”
Securing conversational commerce: How to make your interactions with virtual assistants safer — Mastercard — “Voice-based and text-based agents are commonly used for basic informational tasks ranging from performing an internet search, to finding the nearest restaurant and giving simple commands such as making a phone call. But a growing number of people are using this interface for more complex tasks, with 21% of respondents using this technology to shop, pay bills, bank online or send money.”
Biometric identification must be made available for all Mastercard users by April 2019 — Mastercard — “All consumers will be able to identify themselves with biometrics such as fingerprints or facial recognition, when they shop and pay with Mastercard by April next year… Banks issuing Mastercard-branded cards will have to be able to offer biometric authentication for remote transactions, alongside existing PIN and password verification. It will also apply to all contactless transactions made at terminals with a mobile device.”
WeChat Pay now allows users to bind overseas credit cards — Technode — “Expats living in China and residents of Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan — places where WeChat is ambitiously expanding its user base — can now bind and activate WeChat Pay accounts with credit card services provided by MasterCard, Visa, and JCB… This is the first time users are able to use WeChat Pay without having a Chinese bank account or credit card.”
Mastercard establishes biometrics as the new normal for safer online shopping — Mastercard — “Consumers will have the capability to use biometrics, such as fingerprints or facial recognition, as a way to identify themselves when they shop and pay with Mastercard as of April 2019… This shift to biometrics is part of Mastercard’s new action plan to help banks, retailers and partners to prevent fraud and improve the consumer experience in the new digital environment. It also meets new regulatory requirements around Strong Customer Authentication set out by PSD2 and is aimed at ensuring a smoother consumer experience and reducing unjustified declines.”
Mastercard and Here power ride towards a more connected world — Mastercard — “This partnership comes as people look to take advantage of new technologies to make purchases from the convenience of their car’s dashboard and interact with destinations in real-time… Besides further advancing connected vehicle payments, additional use cases that may be explored include mobility-as-a-service (MaaS), demand management and location-based offerings.”
Dynamics Inc, global banks, payments networks, and telecommunications carriers unveil Wallet Card — Dynamics — “With almost 200 internal components, this Internet of Things device incorporates a number of cutting-edge technologies including: A cell phone chip and cell phone antenna so data can be transferred between Wallet Card and the bank anywhere in the world and at any time of the day; A battery and organic recharging chip so that the card charges itself through normal operation. Wallet Card can last indefinitely without the need for the consumer to perform any physical action.”
AmEx joins Mastercard and Discover in dumping signature requirement — Bloomberg — “AmEx will no longer require customers to sign at checkout for credit- or debit-card purchases beginning in April 2018… Mastercard and Discover dropped the requirement this year, leaving Visa Inc as the only large US payments network that hasn’t rescinded its policy.”