PARTNER NEWS: Raiffeisen Bank has launched an Android NFC mobile payments service in Romania and the Czech Republic that uses Antelop Solutions’ digital payments and tokenization platform... More
Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority is to introduce a mobile version of its Nol transit card next year, enabling both tourists and local residents to use their NFC phones to travel on metro, tram, bus and maritime public transportation services... More
The UK’s NatWest bank has begun a three-month pilot of a biometric credit card that enables customers to make contactless transactions of up to £100 (US$123) instead of the usual maximum value of £30 (US$37)... More
Samsung Pay users in the US are now able to send international money transfers from within the mobile payments app — and use a new Samsung Pay Cash account to make payments in stores and online “right from the Samsung Pay app”... More
Visa, Mastercard, others reconsider involvement in Facebook’s Libra network — The Wall Street Journal — “Visa Inc, Mastercard Inc and other financial partners that signed on to help build and maintain the Libra payments network are reconsidering their involvement following a backlash from US and European government officials, according to people familiar with the matter.”
Russia’s PSB bank has begun the country’s first pilot of dongle-free contactless payments acceptance on standard Android NFC devices. The new SoftPOS service “allows you to turn any NFC phone running Android 7.0 (and above) into a fully fledged POS terminal,” the bank says. More
Banco Proamerica de Costa Rica has become the first bank in Latin America to let merchants accept contactless payments directly on an Android NFC smartphone, without the need for a separate card acceptance dongle... More
“In the last 12 months alone, we’ve grown more than three times to 67 million monthly active users, driving transactions worth over US$110bn on an annualised basis, with hundreds of thousands of offline and online merchants,” Caesar Sengupta, vice president of Google’s next billion users initiative, has revealed... More
Public transportation users in Sydney, Australia, are now able to use contactless bank cards, NFC phones or wearable devices to pay for travel across the entire Transport for New South Wales network, including bus services... More
Passengers using the subway and local trains in the Italian capital city of Rome can now use their contactless bank card to pay for the journeys they make each day — and can also opt to use their card as a replacement for their monthly travel pass... More
Mastercard has announced it is to work with blockchain specialist R3 “to develop and pilot a new blockchain-enabled cross-border payments solution that will initially focus on connecting global faster payments infrastructures, schemes and banks supported by a clearing and settlement network operated by Mastercard”... More
Apple Pay has added the country of Georgia to the list of nations where the mobile payments service is available... More
Passengers using Miami-Dade Transit’s Metrorail service can now pay for their travel using a contactless card issued by Mastercard, Visa or American Express, make mobile payments using Google Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay or select to use Fitbit Pay to pay with a wearable device... More
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Agency (MTA) says its new Omny open loop contactless payments system recorded its one millionth transaction on 8 August, “a remarkable milestone accomplished at a much higher usage rate than initially estimated”... More
Mastercard enables luxury shoppers to purchase with confidence — Mastercard — “Consumers will be able to shop the exclusive Rodarte pieces at Fred Segal Sunset with the ability to scan a QR code on the garment’s tag to trace each step of the product journey. Consumers who purchase from Fred Segal’s online store can learn more about the product journey and verify authenticity by scanning the QR code when their package arrives at home.”
Mobile payments app Payconiq wants to expand in Europe — Ecommerce News Europe — “Our solution is, unlike the well-known payment methods, not dependent on the credit card companies. I don’t see why we couldn’t become the European alternative to Visa or Mastercard. Technically, we are ahead of them.”
NXP’s Secure Processing Module — First dual-interface biometric product to receive Mastercard CAST certificate — NXP — PARTNER NEWS — “NXP’s new Secure Processing Module for fingerprint-on-card technology is the first of its kind to receive Mastercard’s prestigious CAST (Compliance Assessment and Security Testing) certificate… Now that we’ve passed Mastercard’s rigorous security review, we can move ahead with our product release, targeted soon.”
Turning smartphones into mobile points of sale — ING — “Turkish small business owners can now use their smartphones to securely accept payments from customers following a pilot by ING and Mastercard. The ‘Tap on Phone’ application allows business owners to use their Android smartphone, tablet or other smart devices as mobile points of sale (POS), replacing the traditional cash register or electronic POS terminal… Any Android-based smartphone or tablet can be transformed into a mobile POS with the ‘Tap on Phone’ app and an activated near-field communication.”
Unified cashless payment system rolled out at 500 hawker stalls across Singapore — The Straits Times — “The solution, provided by Nets, unifies payments from 23 providers, so dining customers can use different cashless payment options at a single payment terminal at a food outlet. This also saves hawkers the hassle of dealing with multiple e-payment firms. These include e-wallets like Singtel Dash and GrabPay, transport cards EZ-Link and Nets FlashPay, and credit cards such as Visa and Mastercard.”
Customers of Swedbank and Nordea Bank in Sweden are now able to load a Mastercard onto any of a range of fashion watches offered by three local watch brands and then use it to make wearable payments at any Mastercard merchant... More