What's New in Payments

Apple reports growth in US Apple Pay acceptance

Apple Pay coming to Target, Taco Bell and more top US retail locations — Apple — “Target, Taco Bell, Hy-Vee supermarkets in the Midwest, Speedway convenience stores and Jack in the Box are the latest merchants to support Apple Pay… With the addition of these national retailers, 74 of the top 100 merchants in the US and 65% of all retail locations across the country will support Apple Pay.”


NFC World

Target begins accepting NFC payments in San Francisco

Target appears to be testing in-store Apple Pay in San Francisco — 9to5Mac — “On Twitter this week, users have reported that they are able to check out with Apple Pay at a Target store in San Francisco, specifically the Metreon location. Users say that despite Target’s resistance to the feature in the past, the terminals at this San Francisco store are NFC-enabled and work with Apple Pay. Additionally, another user reports that they were able to use a contactless card at the same Target store during the self-checkout process.”



What's New in Payments

Target adds mobile payments, coupons and rewards to mobile app

Target launches Wallet in the Target app: A faster, easier way to pay and save — Target — “With Wallet, guests can pay using their Target REDcard and save with Cartwheel — all in a single scan of their phones at checkout… Wallet combines digital savings — Cartwheel offers and Weekly Ad coupons — with the 5% REDcard discount. And, coming soon, guests also will be able to store and redeem Target GiftCards with Wallet.”








Target tests Bluetooth beacons in 50 US stores

US retail giant Target has begun testing Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons in 50 stores nationwide to send deals and recommendations on nearby products directly to a shopper’s smartphone running the retailer’s iOS mobile app... More





Korea’s SK Planet buys US BLE offers platform Shopkick

SK Planet and Shopkick

Mobile offers platform Shopkick, which is working with a number of high profile US retailers to roll out a network of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons, has been acquired by SK Planet (SKP), operator of Korea’s largest shopper rewards program and part of the same group as carrier SK Telecom... More




What's New in Payments

Retailer-owned payments venture MCX unveils CurrentC brand

CurrentC

Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), the mobile payments venture co-owned by US retail chains with collective revenues of more than US$1 trillion annually, has announced that its payments, loyalty and offers platform is to be called CurrentC — and provided the first details of how the service will work when it rolls out to 110,000 merchant locations across the US in 2015... More