Octopus transit card holders can now use their iPhone or Apple Watch to pay their fares and make purchases at 35,000 retail outlets across Hong Kong that accept Octopus for payments... More
Apple Pay
Taipei light rail offers 50% discounts to mobile payment users
Passengers travelling on Taipei’s Danhai Light Rail service over the next three months will receive a 50% discount on the usual fare when they choose to pay with their mobile phone, operator New Taipei Metro Corporation (NTMC) has announced... More
Leaked images show how Apple Pay QR codes may look
Apple is preparing to introduce its own QR codes later this year, leaked files shared with former Techcrunch reporter Josh Constine suggest... More
Transact rolls out Android NFC student IDs at 16 US universities
Campus card solutions provider Transact has rolled out support for Android NFC student IDs, integrated with Google Pay, to 16 US universities... More
Australia records sharp increase in NFC mobile payments adoption
A total of 10.8% of Australians are now using Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay, up from 7.1% a year ago, a new report from market researchers Roy Morgan has found... More
Blackhawk Network lets UK consumers make digital gift card payments in stores
PARTNER NEWS: Blackhawk Network subsidiary One4all is using Dejamobile’s ReadyToTap Gifts & Rewards solution to make it possible for UK consumers and businesses to send a digital gift card directly to a recipient’s mobile phone — and for the recipient to then use it to make payments online and at contactless terminals in stores... More
Westpac goes live with Apple Pay
Westpac switches on Apple Pay for customers — Westpac — “Apple Pay is now available for Westpac customers with an eligible Mastercard debit or credit card, or eftpos Handycard… Debit card holders can now choose the payment option linked to their card when they pay with Apple Pay, including ‘Mastercard Debit’, ‘eftpos CHQ’ and ‘eftpos SAV’.”
Mobile payment overtakes contactless cards for young Irish consumers
Impact of Covid-19 on spending behaviour revealed as more Irish consumers using contactless and digital wallets — AIB — “Digital wallet (Apple Pay and Google Pay) spend now accounts for 37% of all in-store transactions by those who are under 25… Contactless using a debit card is the most popular choice of in-store payment method among all age cohorts, except those under 25 where it accounts for 28% of spend.”
Google to add support for Bluetooth mobile payments?
Leaked screenshots of a new Google Pay debit card, to be issued by banks partnering with the search engine giant for its planned move into the US banking market, include mention of an option to use a digital version of the card “for Bluetooth mobile payments”... More
Commonwealth Bank reports surge in digital wallet transactions
Digital wallet transactions grew 17% in March 2020, outpacing the average monthly compound growth rate of 6.7% over the past six months, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) reports... More
New Zealand raises contactless limit by 150%
New Zealand is to progressively roll out a temporary increase in the country’s contactless transaction limit “over the coming days and weeks” — but customers of two banks will miss out “due to technology constraints” unless they order a new card or make use of mobile payments... More
OEM Pay transaction volumes to exceed $1tn a year by 2024
Consumers will use payments services provided by smartphone makers and other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to make transactions valued at more than US$1tn a year by 2024, up from US$333bn in 2020, according to Juniper Research... More
Wells Fargo offers $5 credit to customers who use their smartphone to make an ATM withdrawal
Wells Fargo is running a promotion that lets selected cardholders receive a US$5 credit when they use their smartphone to make a cash withdrawal at one of the US bank’s contactless ATMs... More
TfL signs £2m payments promotion deal with Google Pay
Google has agreed to pay Transport for London (TfL) £2m (US$2.56m) for the right to place Google Pay branding on all of London Underground’s 5,686 tap in/out card readers for a year... More
Apple lets retailers accept augmented reality payments
Merchants can now use Apple Pay to let shoppers purchase items from directly within an augmented reality experience, using a new Custom Action feature Apple has rolled out for AR Quick Look... More
Las Vegas restaurant lets diners use QR codes to pay their bill with Apple Pay
Las Vegas restaurant Makers & Finders is the first to use a new service that lets diners scan a QR code on their printed bill to pay for their meal with Apple Pay... More
Apple Pay now accounts for 5% of global card transactions
Payments made via Apple Pay now account for around 5% of global card transactions, according to research firm Bernstein — and are set to represent 10% of all card transactions by 2025... More
Contactless payments set to triple to US$6tn by 2024
Global contactless transaction values will reach nearly US$6tn in 2024, up from US$2tn today, Juniper Research forecasts... More
Israeli banks balk at Apple Pay fees
Turbulent entry into the payments market: Apple Pay requires high commission in Israel — Calcalist (translation) — “Apple representatives have begun a round of meetings with banks and credit companies to formulate agreements to begin Apple Pay’s operations in the country… Some players were surprised to find that Apple requires a fairly high fee estimated at 0.15% to 0.25% of any transaction made through Apple Pay… ‘It is disproportionate, and constitutes an exploitation of its status and power,’ says a source close to the talks between the parties.”