Customers of Australian bank Westpac will soon be able to use an innovative replacement for the default keyboard found in social messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp to make P2P money transfers to friends, family and businesses as well as send cardless cash codes to recipients for ATM withdrawals. More
LG will launch its LG Pay mobile payments service in Korea in June this year using a mobile payment technology that works by “generating a magnetic signal from a mobile device such as a smartphone, and paying it to a general credit card terminal”. More
US Bank customers can now add their Visa Corporate Travel Card to Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay... More
Relying on Android or alternatives to NFC for successful mobile payment services in a country with one of the world’s largest iPhone market shares and high contactless card use is “unrealistic”, the group of Australian banks seeking access to the iPhone’s NFC functionality say in their latest submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)... More
Apple Pay is “arriving” in Italy with support from Mastercard, Visa, Carrefour Banca, UniCredit and German payment processor Wirecard’s Boon service, Apple’s website says... More
Apple Pay has been launched across Ireland with support from Mastercard, Visa, KBC and Ulster Bank, allowing customers to make in-store, online and in-app payments using their compatible devices... More
Seven banks in Taiwan have been granted permission by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) to support Apple Pay, Focus Taiwan reports... More
Apple CEO Tim Cook told attendees at the company’s annual shareholder meeting this week that Apple Pay “hit an air pocket” this year with adoption in the US trailing other countries, such as China and Australia, where NFC is more broadly available, AppleInsider reports from the event... More
Apple is promoting adoption of Apple Pay in Japan via a two month campaign that offers a wide range of rewards and benefits to consumers who choose to use the NFC payments service. More
Bank of China has become the first bank in Hong Kong to offer Apple Pay with UnionPay credit cards... More
The launch of Apple Pay and Samsung Pay in Russia helped to produce a fivefold increase in the number of consumers using online payment service Yandex.Money to pay for goods and services in 2016, Vedemosti reports... More
ING Direct and Macquarie Bank are now rolling out support for Apple Pay in Australia, with 47 financial institutions now supporting the mobile payments service in the country... More
Apple Pay could soon be launching in Germany and Italy, after German and Italian language instructions on how to use the mobile payment service were discovered on Apple’s website by Polish website iMagazine... More
Fashion retailers Ralph Lauren and Rebecca Minkoff are testing smart dressing-room mirrors that will soon allow shoppers to “wave their phones in front of the mirror and make a purchase using Apple Pay or Android Pay”, Bloomberg reports... More
Apple’s iPhone 7S, 7S Plus and 8 will come with a 3D laser scanner for facial recognition later this year to replace the Touch ID fingerprint scanner, JPMorgan analyst Rod Hall has told MacRumors... More
Russian mobile network operator MTS has launched MTS Money Wallet, an online payments and money transfer service that incorporates loyalty points, offers and discounts, and is to be expanded to transport and in-store payments via NFC, SMS and USSD technologies later this year... More
Luxury car maker Jaguar has begun integrating a mobile payments system into its vehicles, allowing drivers to use PayPal or Apple Pay to pay for fuel at Shell service stations using an app and the touchscreen found inside their vehicle... More
Apple Pay and Android Pay are preparing to launch in Korea, according to The Korea Herald... More
The group of Australian banks arguing for the right to collectively negotiate with Apple over the introduction of Apple Pay in the country have dropped their request to jointly arrange how to “pass-through” additional fees Apple imposes on its mobile payment service, and will now focus solely on gaining access to the NFC functionality within the iPhone... More
The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has come out in support of the group of four Australian banks seeking stronger negotiation powers with Apple over the introduction of Apple Pay in the country, saying they believe access to the NFC functionality in the iPhone would allow retailers to provide “a richer and more convenient customer experience”... More