The South Korean parliament has passed a bill that will require companies such as Apple and Google to allow the use of payment services other than their own proprietary systems for the purchase of digital goods within their app stores... More
Apple may incorporate iris scanning functionality in a forthcoming head-mounted display (HMD) mixed-reality headset that will enable users to authenticate their identity when using Apple Pay to make payments via the “mostly virtual reality device”, according to MacRumors... More
Apple has begun rolling out iOS 14, bringing with it support for App Clips that let brands and merchants use NFC tags to provide quick and easy access to mini apps... More
Tinkoff super-app boosts digital leadership in European fintech space — Tinkoff — “The super-app is both our own version of the App Store, with its own mini apps, and the first WeChat-like app in the Russian or any European financial market, featuring products and services from our partners… External partners can connect to the marketplace (via open API) using the ‘app-in-app’ model and offer targeted products and services within the Tinkoff app.”
Bó — the digital bank to help people do money better — is now live in App Store and Google Play — NatWest — “As we’re part of NatWest, people can rely on Bó to keep their money safe. But as a digital bank, built entirely on a separate cloud-based technology, Bó is also able to harness new technology and develop rapidly in line with our customers’ needs and expectations.”
Apple Card is now available to all US consumers, the iPhone maker has announced — and the 3% cashback offered to cardholders who use their card to make an Apple Pay mobile payment for an Apple product will now be available from “more merchants and apps”... More
PARTNER NEWS: NXP has announced a toolkit designed to make it easy for iOS 11 developers to take advantage of the NFC tag reading capabilities that are now supported by iPhones and unlock “the potential to now connect billions of consumer and industrial products to the Internet of Things (IoT)”... More
New App Store guidelines crack down on iOS ‘virus scanners’, require alternatives to Face ID for under-13s — 9to5Mac — “Apple has updated its developer app review guidelines for the iPhone and iPad App Store this week with new clauses addressing the appropriate usage of Face ID, ARKit and more… Developers using the LocalAuthentication framework to enable Face ID unlock (in the same way apps can already use Touch ID authentication) must offer an alternate method of unlock for children under the age of 13 to use.”
PayPal now available on App Store, Apple Music, iTunes and more — PayPal — “PayPal’s availability across Apple’s services further expands our vision of providing customers a variety of ways to easily make mobile purchases, such as asking Siri to make a payment using the PayPal app… Once PayPal has been selected, all future purchases with the customer’s Apple ID will be automatically charged to their PayPal account.”
The mobile wallet market will exceed US$4tn by 2021, Infiniti Research predicts, up from close to $1tn in 2016... More
Apple has rejected the registration of the Samsung Pay Mini online payments app onto its app store, according to ET News... More
Users of the Azimo money transfer service can now send money through Apple’s voice-activated Siri system... More
US retailers are offering discounts on in-app purchases made through Apple Pay until September as part of a recently launched iOS App Store promotion... More
Canadians can now use the MintChip virtual currency to send and receive money through a P2P mobile app and make payments at participating merchants in Toronto’s Liberty Village neighbourhood by scanning a barcode... More
PARTNER NEWS: Commuters on some 500 Transport for London (TfL) buses can now receive real-time travel updates and relevant location-based advertising using transport app developer Mapway’s Bus Times London app. More
Apple Pay has begun rolling out across Singapore, letting consumers pay in store with compatible Apple devices and make purchases within participating mobile apps using their American Express cards, with support from Visa expected “soon”... More
Grupo Aval, Colombia’s largest financial services group, has launched a mobile payment and offers service that lets customers of its Av Villas, Banco de Bogotá, Banco de Occidente and Banco Popular banks make in-store payments using a code generated on their mobile phone... More
Apple Pay will be available in the UK from July 2015, vice president of Apple Pay business Jennifer Bailey has announced at the iPhone maker’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Users of the mobile payments service will also be able to add store credit, debit and loyalty cards to their Apple mobile wallet from “this fall”. More
US retail giant Best Buy, a founder member of retailer-led consortium MCX which requires members to exclusively support its own yet-to-launch mobile payments service, has announced that it will accept Apple Pay NFC payments in its stores “later this year”... More
Diners at UK restaurant chain Wagamama can now pay for their meals at their tables using MasterCard’s Qkr... More
