Chase Paymentech and Vantiv, two of the largest payment processors in the US, have signed up to distribute the former head of Google Wallet’s new Poynt POS terminal to their merchant bases... More
Bluetooth
Starbucks to accept Microsoft Band wearable payments
Starbucks is to begin accepting payments from customers wearing the new Microsoft Band smart bracelet... More
Canadian banks pilot biometric wristband payments
Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), MasterCard and other Canadian issuing banks have begun pilot testing an NFC version of Nymi, a biometrically authenticated wristband that uses the wearer’s unique cardiac rhythm to verify their identity. More
Starwood Hotels picks Bluetooth for mobile room keys that work on smartphones and Apple Watch
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has unveiled a mobile keyless entry system that will allow guests to use smartphones to unlock rooms using Bluetooth at 150 hotels around the globe by early 2015. The service will also be available via an Apple Watch app when the new wearable device ships next year, the hotel chain has told NFC World+. More
SK Planet to roll out Bluetooth beacons to 10,000 stores across Korea
SK Planet has launched a new Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) service in Korea that offers customers reward points and benefits directly on their mobile device whenever they enter a participating retail location. The BLE beacon-based solution is expected to be installed in more than 10,000 stores by next month. More
Swirl serves ads to shoppers inside stores
Proximity marketing specialist Swirl has unveiled an in-store programmatic ad exchange that enables retailers and brands to reach consumers with relevant content and offers on their smartphones while they shop at participating locations... More
Welsh museum tests iBeacons
The National Roman Legion Museum in Caerleon, Wales, is using Bluetooth beacons to let visitors discover more about the collections on show on their mobile devices... More
Hong Kong carrier SmarTone rolls out Bluetooth marketing platform to retailers
Hong Kong mobile network operator SmarTone has introduced ST Beacon, a marketing service that lets retailers send promotional messages to customers with an Android or iOS device using Bluetooth... More
Patent provides insights into the inner workings of Apple Pay
A newly published Apple patent application provides insights into how the iPhone maker’s new Apple Pay service will work, how the company has optimized the iPhone’s NFC capabilities to ensure the best possible user experience at the point of sale, and how secure payment credentials will be provisioned onto secondary devices such as the Apple Watch... More
US Tennis Association serves up Bluetooth beacons at Flushing Meadows
The US Tennis Association (USTA) has used a network of Bluetooth beacons placed around the US Open’s Flushing Meadows venue to tailor its mobile app to event attendees, learn how ticket holders moved around the location, and push messages to fans... More
Carlsberg rolls out NFC beer mats and beacons to 250 Danish pubs and bars
Brewer Carlsberg is distributing beer mats containing an NFC tag and a QR code and installing Bluetooth beacons at 250 pubs and bars across Denmark to support its Crowdit offers and venue discovery app. More
KLM uses Bluetooth beacons to help passengers navigate Schiphol Airport
Passengers travelling with KLM from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport can now use the airline’s app to get a map of the airport that shows the route they need to take to their gate and the time required to get to there... More
Miami Airport provides airlines and retailers with open access to Bluetooth beacons
Miami International Airport has become the first in the world to use an open approach to deploying Bluetooth beacons across its footprint... More
NFC Forum publishes connection handover paper
The NFC Forum has published guidelines for developers looking to use NFC to easily establish a connection between two devices and then hand over to Bluetooth or WiFi for high speed or long distance data exchange... More
Macy’s unveils mobile payments and customer marketing plans
Macy’s Inc, owner of the Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s department store chains, has unveiled plans to implement a range of new technologies designed to provide an omnichannel shopping service to its customers... More
NXP publishes guide to NFC and the Internet of Things
Chip maker NXP has published a 20-page guide to NFC and the Internet of Things (IoT) that is available for readers to download from the NFC World+ Knowledge Centre... More
23 Apple patents related to NFC and mobile payments
Apple has been steadily building a portfolio of patents related to NFC and mobile payments over recent years, from as far back as 2009. NFC World+ has reported on these as they have been published and links are provided here to details of 23 patents covering technical innovations and use cases in payments, mobile marketing, coupon delivery, gifting, event ticketing, content sharing, travel and beyond. More
Rumoured Apple retail partner list grows
The list of retailers that look set to accept Apple’s new mobile payments service now includes CVS and Walgreens according to Re/Code and Disney, according to 9to5Mac, which adds that Apple is installing additional Gimbal Series 20 Bluetooth beacons in its stores... More
Graceland uses Bluetooth beacons to guide Elvis fans
Graceland, the former home of Elvis Presley and now a major tourist attraction, is offering every visitor the use of an iPad that works in conjunction with Bluetooth beacons placed around the Memphis mansion to help guests navigate the attraction and “trigger additional content including videos, trivia and more.”... More
JD Sports adds BLE beacons
UK sports fashion chain JD has installed Bluetooth beacons at its new concept store in Manchester’s Trafford Centre, letting customers who have downloaded the JD app “access exclusive store content and shop from the app before paying in-store.” The store also features eight multi-channel kiosks and a social media wall, and staff have been equipped with iPads “to assist with customers’ enquiries.”... More