Sberbank and Telegram create unique payment solution — Sberbank — “The solution allows payments to be accepted from MasterCard, Visa and Mir bank cards. In addition, in a first for Russia, it is now possible to pay using Apple Pay and Android Pay within Telegram bots. This means that now Sberbank partners can easily accept payments as well as orders via Telegram bots.”
Mastercard
Antelop to add Visa token support to white label NFC mobile wallet platform
PARTNER NEWS: Antelop Solutions has signed up for the Visa Ready Tokenization program as an HCE Token Requestor Token Service Provider (TR-TSP) and plans to become Visa Ready certified, enabling it to connect its HCE NFC software-as-a-service mobile payments platform to Visa Token Service... More
Swarovski lets shoppers make payments in VR
Mastercard and Swarovski launch virtual reality shopping experience — Mastercard — “Once the consumers decide and select the piece from the collection that they want to purchase, they can add it to the cart and check out by focusing their gaze on the Masterpass button that appears at the bottom of the product description. When the consumer exits the application or the session detects that the headset has been removed, the consumer will be automatically logged out of their Masterpass account to protect against unintended purchases.”
Mastercard applies for blockchain B2B payments patent
Method and system for recording point to point transaction processing — USPTO — “The present disclosure relates to the recording, processing, and displaying of point to point transactions, specifically providing a trade directory of parties in a secure environment, a ledger of transactions, and the settlement of aggregated person-to-person (P2P) and business-to-business (B2B) electronic payment transactions between bank accounts and third parties using a single transaction processing system.”
Westpac pulls support for Tap & Pay
Why have we removed Westpac Tap & Pay? — Westpac — “We have removed Westpac Tap & Pay as more customers are choosing to use Android Pay and Samsung Pay for their additional features. We recommend you add your eligible Mastercard or Visa card to Android Pay or Samsung Pay so you can continue to quickly and securely pay with your smartphone at millions of stores worldwide.”
Mastercard tests service that lets anyone collect cash from an ATM with just a mobile phone
ATM innovation for emergency assistance and merchant rebates — Mastercard — “There are situations when money needs to be sent and received as cash, particularly in emergency situations or when the recipient is unbanked. With Mastercard Cash Pick-Up, a bank can help an individual or company send money to anyone with a valid mobile phone number.”
Garmin enters the payments market with Vivoactive smartwatch
Garmin has unveiled a GPS-enabled smartwatch that includes an NFC contactless payments service called Garmin Pay which supports cards from both Visa and Mastercard and enables the wearer to “make secure payments from the watch, no phone or wallet required.”... More
Mastercard lets Polish merchants accept payments with just their smartphones
Two hundred small businesses are to participate in a pilot that lets them accept contactless payments using just a mobile app on their NFC smartphones... More
Fitbit unveils Ionic smartwatch with Mastercard, Visa, AmEx and Starbucks payments support
Fitness wearable maker Fitbit has launched Ionic, a smartwatch that will combine health and fitness functions with the ability to make contactless Visa, Mastercard and American Express payments as well as payments using the wearer’s Starbucks Card account... More
European consumers give thumbs up to biometric payment cards
Nine in ten consumers taking part in the first European trial of a biometric payment card developed by Mastercard say they “would upgrade or probably upgrade” their favourite card to one that includes the biometric security feature if it was available, a survey by issuing bank UniCredit Bulbank has found... More
Bank of America and PayPal partner to enable in-store payments and account linking
Bank of America and PayPal partner to enable in-store payments and account linking — Bank of America — “Bank of America will partner with PayPal to tokenize Bank of America cards for customers wishing to use PayPal for in-store purchases, across MasterCard and Visa portfolios in the US. This will support PayPal’s forthcoming NFC mobile wallet experience to enable in-store tap-to-pay purchases and reflects Bank of America’s open wallet strategy.”
BBVA brings Android Pay to Spain
BBVA brings Android Pay to Spain — BBVA – “BBVA and Google today announced the launch of Android Pay in Spain. This payment system will allow BBVA customers to use their Visa and Mastercard cards in order to pay with their mobile phones. Android Pay will be operational in the more than one million businesses in Spain with contactless technology.”
JCPenney adds credit cards and loyalty rewards to Apple Pay
Customers of US department store chain JCPenney can now add the retailer’s credit card to Apple Pay and make contactless payments at any of the company’s stores nationwide... More
PayPal to let Citibank and Chase customers pay with loyalty points
Citibank and JPMorgan Chase customers across the US will soon be able to make online purchases using loyalty points as currency at “millions of merchants” that accept PayPal... More
Mastercard expands QR payments choice
Mastercard expands QR payments choice — Mastercard — “Beginning this month, the company will broaden its solutions to offer QR codes that can be scanned by either consumers or merchants under a common set of global specifications… The company’s consumer-presented solution will allow the merchant to scan a QR code from a smartphone and process the payment through the Mastercard network. It will leverage M/Chip technology to provide a secure way to pay based on EMV infrastructure.”
Mastercard and Visa lose share to UnionPay in global cards market
Mastercard and Visa lose share to UnionPay in global cards market — RBR — “The continued rapid expansion of the Chinese cards market has helped UnionPay to increase its share of cards to 43% in 2016, and extend its lead over Visa and Mastercard. UnionPay has been the largest scheme globally for card numbers since 2010 and, by the end of 2016, there were more than six billion UnionPay branded cards in circulation.”
Commuters on the F1 Manly to Circular Quay ferry first to tap into contactless ticketing on one of Sydney’s most iconic routes
Commuters on the F1 Manly to Circular Quay ferry first to tap into contactless ticketing on one of Sydney’s most iconic routes — Mastercard — “Paying for a ferry ride is now as easy as tap-and-go, as Mastercard and Transport for NSW bring contactless ticketing payment to Sydney Ferries… In an Australian first, commuters can use their Mastercard contactless card or mobile wallets that have enabled Mastercard cards to tap on.”
Citi Pay launches in the US
Citi Pay launches in the US — Citi — “Online and in-app purchases will be enabled through Citi’s integration of Masterpass… For Android users, the digital wallet also enables Citi cardholders to make in-store purchases by tapping their Android mobile devices at any NFC-enabled point-of-sale terminal… In 2016, Citi Pay launched in Singapore, Australia and Mexico with tap and pay capabilities.”
Mastercard launches several new APIs for developers
Mastercard launches several new APIs for developers — Mastercard — “The enhanced suite of APIs includes new offerings focused on Masterpass QR, spend alerts and controls, Qkr! with Masterpass and chatbot solutions.”
ABN Amro pilots wearable payments with select customers
A select group of ABN Amro customers has begun piloting payments using NFC-enabled rings supplied by Kerv and smartwatches... More