Walmart Pay threatens to surpass Apple in US mobile payments — Bloomberg — “Available in 4,774 stores, Walmart Pay is enrolling tens of thousands of new users a day, up from thousands four or five months ago, said Daniel Eckert, who runs the business. Two-thirds of the customers who try it also use it a second time within 21 days, he said, giving him confidence Walmart Pay will surpass Apple Pay in the US in terms of use by shoppers in stores where they’re accepted.”
Apple Pay
Face ID for Apple Pay gets thumbs up in pre-release review
The first first impression of the iPhone X — Wired — “I really liked Apple Pay with iPhone X — having to double-click on the side button and then use Face ID was a clearer way to do transactions.”
UK challenger bank Starling adds support for Fitbit Pay
Digital challenger bank Starling is the first to support Fitbit Pay in the UK — City AM — “Customers of digital challenger Starling will be able to pay using their Fitbit smartwatch as it becomes the first bank in the UK to support Fitbit Pay… Starling added support for Apple Pay, which works on both the Apple Watch and iPhones, over the summer and Android Pay in September.”
Survey: Market fragmentation is holding back the adoption of mobile payments in Canada
Fragmentation, lack of interest to blame for poor mobile payments adoption in Canada — MobileSyrup — “While almost half of Canadians made a contactless purchase with their debit or credit card, the percentage of mobile payments users for platforms like Android Pay, Samsung Pay and Apple Pay is in the low single digits — even though awareness is “relatively high,” with roughly half of those polled stating they were aware of one of the big three platforms.”
White paper sets out how fashion brands can add payments, loyalty, ticketing and more to wearable devices
Fashion brands looking to include payments capabilities in their wearable devices need solutions that are pre-certified, inexpensive, easy to implement and offer the wearer the ability to quickly and easily add their choice of payment, transit, loyalty and identity cards throughout the lifetime of their watch or fashion accessory, wearables platform provider Fidesmo explains in a new white paper which is now available to download free of charge from the NFC World Knowledge Centre... More
Apple Pay goes live in Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the UAE
Apple Pay Launches in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and UAE — MacRumors — “In Denmark, Jyske Bank (Visa debit cards only) and Nordea are supporting Apple Pay. In Finland and Sweden, Apple Pay can be used with debit and credit cards from Nordea and ST1. Edenred and N26 support will be coming soon to Finland, while Ticket Rikskuponger will support Apple Pay in Sweden in the near future. In United Arab Emirates, the following banks and cards work with Apple Pay: Emirates Islamic (Visa credit, debit, and prepaid cards), Emirates NBD, HSBC (Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards), Mashreq, Rakbank (Mastercard credit, debit, and prepaid cards), Standard Chartered Bank”.
Apple Pay reaches 20 countries, representing 70% of the world’s card transaction volume
Apple Pay now in 20 markets, nabs 90% of all mobile contactless transactions where active — Techcrunch — “Bailey also announced that the service is launching in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and the UAE in the next few days, bringing the total number of countries where it is used up to 20. And she said that 4,000 issuers worldwide now work with the wallet… While these may not sound like massive numbers on their own, 20 markets represents a full 70% of the world’s card transaction volume, she noted.”
Apple Pay now available on older iPhones in Japan
iOS 11 activates Apple Pay for older Japanese iPhones — Ata Distance — UPDATE Further investigation has found that the following information is not accurate. Click through for further information — “With the NFC switching capabilities of iOS 11 Apple Pay Apple quietly activated Apple Pay Japan for older non-FeliCa NFC capable iPhones such as iPhone 6S. Surprised users with Japan issue cards that support JCB J/Speedy and Mastercard Contactless can add them to Apple Pay and use them at stores with EMV NFC-Pay ready readers.”
Apple Pay set to launch in Poland and the Netherlands?
Apple Pay may be coming to Poland and the Netherlands later this year — AppleInsider — “A tip and photos received by AppleInsider on Wednesday indicate that PKO Bank Polski is currently testing Apple Pay, and could offer support by the end of 2017… Several sources for Dutch site One More Thing have meanwhile claimed that ING will soon bring Apple Pay to the Netherlands, followed by a second bank, Bunq… One source suggested that Apple Pay will launch in the country on November 2.”
Eftpos brings Apple Pay debit payments to Australia with Rambus tokenization technology
PARTNER NEWS: ANZ has become the first bank in Australia to enable customers to use Apple Pay to make mobile payments using the country’s Eftpos national debit payments network... More
Apple Pay to go live in Scandinavia next week?
Exclusive: Apple Pay to be launched in Sweden, Finland and Denmark next week — MacPro — “According to several sources familiar with the matter, Apple will launch Apple Pay next week in Sweden, Denmark and Finland. In Sweden, Apple is working with Nordea, a Nordic bank with its headquarters in Sweden. Which bank or banks that will partner with Apple in Denmark and Finland is yet unknown.”
Most US banks expected to renew Apple Pay contracts
They may not like the terms, but issuers will likely re-up for Apple Pay — Digital Transactions — “The first big wave of Apple Pay contracts are expiring this month, and a big question for both Apple Inc and the financial institutions that committed to support the computing giant’s mobile payments app is whether to renew, and under what terms, in the face of less-than-spectacular results for mobile payments generally… Expert observers and financial institution executives argue most if not all of the early signees are likely to re-up or have already done so, despite financial terms many experts consider unusual if not onerous.”
Apple prepares to launch Apple Pay in India
Apple may launch payments service in India soon, eyes local partnerships — LiveMint — “In an interview at Apple’s Hyderabad development centre, Apple senior vice-president Eddy Cue said the company wants to launch Apple Pay in India in the near future without giving a specific date… The company will look to partner and integrate its payments service with established players in the country like Paytm, rather than build a new payments solution from scratch, Cue said.”
Mastercard promotes contactless card usage with free school meal donations
Every pay as you go journey in London made using a Mastercard will feed a child this October — Mastercard — “Touch in and out with your Mastercard on London’s transport network and we’ll provide a meal for one of the world’s hungriest children… For three weeks Mastercard will donate one school meal for every pay-as-you-go journey made on Transport for London (TfL) and National Rail Services in London using a contactless Mastercard, or a Mastercard loaded into Apple Pay, Android Pay or Samsung Pay… Each school meal costs just 20p, but the benefits last a lifetime.”
Discover lets cardholders redeem cashback bonus points via Apple Pay
Discover cardmembers now have ability to redeem Cashback Bonus rewards with Apple Pay — Discover Financial Services — “‘Cashback Bonus redemption through Apple Pay can happen in just two touches for Discover cardmembers,’ said Szabolcs Paldy, vice president of e-business for Discover… ‘Customer experience hinges on embracing mobile-first technologies like Apple Pay, and this new ability will make Cashback Bonus redemption even easier and more convenient for our cardmembers.’”
Wells Fargo adds NFC cash withdrawals at 5,000 ATMs
More than 5,000 Wells Fargo ATMs launch NFC-enabled mobile wallet capability — Wells Fargo — “A customer can initiate an ATM transaction by signing into leading mobile wallet features, such as Wells Fargo Wallet for Android, Apple Pay, Android Pay or Samsung Pay, found on mobile phones. They simply hold their phone or wearable device with mobile payment functionality near an NFC-enabled ATM terminal… The customer will then input their Wells Fargo Debit or EasyPay card personal identification number (PIN) and complete their transaction.”
Baseball team uses iOS 11 to issue NFC tickets to fans
An MLB team is using the iPhone’s NFC feature for contactless stadium entry — Techcrunch — “The Oakland Athletics are piloting a new NFC ticketing solution which lets fans enter the stadium by tapping their phone (or Apple Watch) to a ticket scanner — just like you’d do to use Apple Pay. The feature uses the NFC technology that is used for contactless rewards cards (like Walgreens Balance Rewards) via Apple Pay, and this is the first time the technology is being used outside of reward cards or stored balance gift cards.”
Sberbank lets customers pay via Telegram messaging bots
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.”
Guide explains Apple Pay integration options for banks
A 10-page guide that outlines the technologies and capabilities banks must have in place to connect to Apple Pay, along with the options open to them for integration, is now available to download from the NFC World Knowledge Centre... More
UnionPay rolls out Apple Pay transit payments in Guangzhou
Buses and subways to become new battlefield for mobile payments — South China Morning Post — “Commuters with UnionPay cards can now pay for their ride with their iPhone or Apple Watch at more than 6,000 subway gates at all stations in the city… Payments will be possible using technology called offline data authentication (ODA), and can be completed regardless of an internet connection… UnionPay estimates 90bn individual trips are made using Chinese buses and subways annually.”