Google has unveiled Project Brillo, a development platform for the Internet of Things that will connect devices through a communication layer called Weave which “provides seamless and secure communication between devices both locally and through the cloud,” Google explains... More
Android
Visa launches VDEP service to make it easier and cheaper for banks to offer mobile payments
Visa has launched the Visa Digital Enablement Program (VDEP), a new service that builds on the company’s token technology and adds a “turn-key, toll-free commercial framework accessible to more than 14,500 Visa financial institution clients and technology partners around the world”... More
Google working on “brand new” Wallet service for Android and iOS
Google has confirmed it is developing a “brand new” Google Wallet app for Android and iOS that will allow anyone with a US debit card to send and receive money for free “within minutes”, even if the other person doesn’t have the app... More
US Bank cardmembers among first to get Android Pay
US Bank cardmembers will be among the first to have access to Android Pay for credit and debit card transactions when the service launches later this year... More
Android Pay to support offers and rewards
At “select retailers”, Android Pay will include support for loyalty programs and special offers to be automatically applied at checkout, Google’s Pali Bhat explains in a blog post... More
USAT adds support for Android Pay
Cashless vending machine technology provider USA Technologies (USAT) has announced it will be adding support for Android Pay, the NFC mobile payment solution unveiled by Google at the I/O event today... More
Google unveils Android Pay
Google is to introduce a new NFC mobile payments platform called Android Pay with the release of Android M later this year, vice president of engineering Dave Burke has revealed during the Google I/O 2015 keynote. More
Nearly half of iPhone 6 owners successfully using Apple Pay
Nearly half (46%) of US iPhone 6 owners have now successfully used Apple Pay, up from 42% two months ago, and 63% of those are using the mobile payments service on a weekly basis, the bi-monthly Apple Pay Tracker from Auriemma Consulting Group (ACG) has revealed... More
Postbank begins HCE pilot in Germany with Worldline
Employees of Germany’s Postbank have begun piloting a mobile payment service based on host card emulation (HCE) that makes use of tokenization to allow NFC payments to be made at any Visa payWave terminal... More
Sekur.me brings Apple Pay online
Online authentication provider Sekur.me has made it possible for merchants to accept Apple Pay for online payments for the first time, via a Universal Buy Button that works with a wide range of platforms and gateways, browsers and on both Android and iOS devices... More
Mountain America offers dual biometric log-in for mobile banking
Mountain America Credit Union has announced the beta release of a dual biometric log-in feature that lets its members access their mobile banking app either by scanning their finger or taking a picture of their eye, claiming to be the first to have combined fingerprint and eye-imaging technology in an attempt to make biometrics available to all of its mobile banking users... More
Orange Cash adds in-store mobile payments in Spain
Orange Spain is to launch a new version of its Orange Cash service allowing users to pay with their smartphone at Visa contactless point-of-sale terminals and make online payments using one-time generated virtual cards... More
Nepal Bank to launch NFC and tokenization in July
Nepal Bank is set to become the first in the country to launch an NFC mobile payment service, using a solution provided by Nuspay that also makes use of tokenization... More
US in-store mobile payments to hit $54bn by 2019
Mobile proximity payments — those made by consumers at the physical point of sale using a mobile device — in the US will total US$54bn by 2019, Javelin Strategy and Research has projected... More
Starwood guests unlock hotel rooms with Apple Watch app
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has launched an app for the Apple Watch that enables wearers to tap their device to unlock hotel room doors via Bluetooth... More
Vodafone Netherlands adds credit card to Wallet
Vodafone customers in the Netherlands can now make NFC payments with a mobile version of a credit card... More
Pub chain picks Droplet’s fee-free mobile payments and rewards
British brewer Adnams is to roll out a mobile payments and rewards service in its 12 stores and 50 pubs across East Anglia and London this summer using a fee-free platform provided by UK startup Droplet. More
Jawbone adds NFC payments to fitness trackers with AmEx
Wearable device maker Jawbone has unveiled a fitness tracking wristband that can be linked to the wearer’s American Express card account and used to make NFC payments... More
Sabadell HCE wallet to go live in July
Spain’s Banco Sabadell is to make its HCE-based mobile payments service, developed in partnership with MasterCard, available to customers in July... More
New Zealand NFC wallet venture Semble goes live
Close to one million New Zealanders now have the ability to make NFC payments with the nationwide launch of Semble, a SIM-based mobile wallet introduced by two New Zealand banks, three carriers and payments network Paymark... More