What's New in Payments

Alipay reports mobile payments adoption stats

Mobile devices handle some 80% of Alipay’s online payments in 2017 — ECNS — “New data from Alipay show 82% of the transactions on its platform in 2017 were made through mobile devices, mostly smart phones. This ratio is said to be an all-time high… There were 520m Alipay users in China, or around 37% of the country’s population, in 2017… More than 40m small retailers across China, according to Alipay, established their own quick response codes in 2017… Bus and subway networks in more than 30 Chinese cities began allowing passengers to pay fares via Alipay through 2017.”


Transit Ticketing Today

Boston to introduce NFC and contactless transit ticketing

Paying for a ride on the T could look very different in three years — Metro — “The MBTA on Monday moved towards overhauling its fare collection system to eliminate cash from its trolleys and buses and to give riders the ability to pay onboard with a credit card or smartphone… Riders will no longer be able to pay with cash on buses or the Green Line, eliminating transactions that cause delays and frustration for other passengers.”


Transit Ticketing Today

New York City to get NFC mobile ticketing from 2019

MTA approves plan to scrap MetroCards for ‘tap’ payment system — New York Daily News — “The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board took its first step on Monday to retire the MetroCard and bring technology to let people “tap” their way through turnstiles and onto buses… Transit passengers in 2019 will be able to tap their way using a bank card or smartphone on 500 turnstiles and 600 buses, plus load up their chosen device with money online… In 2020, all subway stations and buses will have the tech.”



NFC World

Abu Dhabi launches app to track pupils on journey to school

Abu Dhabi launches app to track pupils on journey to school — Arabian Business — “Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) and Emirates Transport have launched Hafilaty, an app that enables parents to track their children to and from school… As part of the initiative, Emirates Transport has installed advanced systems, including GPS tracking systems to locate the bus and NFC technology on students’ cards.”



Transit Ticketing Today

Oxford Bus Company and Thames Travel passengers can now ‘wave and pay’

Oxford Bus Company and Thames Travel passengers can now ‘wave and pay’ — Oxford Times — “This would do more than ‘just replace the existing cash ticket’, managing director Phil Southall said… ‘We’re really proud to be able to offer the ability for customers to pay for their tickets using Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay and Android Pay on all of our services from today. We have ambitious plans over the coming months.'”


Transit Ticketing Today

Hangzhou buses first to all use mobile pay

Hangzhou buses first to all use mobile pay — China.org.cn — “‘Passengers can use Alipay and UnionPay flash payment cards on this terminal. Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Huawei Pay, Mi Pay and Android Pay can be used with smartphones or wearables like watches and electronic bracelets,’ said Liu Xiaojie, general manager of public services at Ant Financial.”


What's New in Payments

Samsung Pay goes live in the UK with iris scan authentication and faster transit payments

Samsung Pay in the UK

Samsung Pay is now available in the UK for customers of three financial institutions — MBNA, Nationwide and Santander — with “more on the way”. The service supports iris scan authentication as well as PIN and fingerprint authentication for Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ owners and offers a ‘transport card’ option designed to speed up transactions on busy Transport for London (TfL) services. More


Transit Ticketing Today

Lothian Buses to offer HCE mobile payments for public transport in Scotland

Rambus

PARTNER NEWS: Scottish commuters using public transport services operated by Lothian Buses will soon be able to pay for their journeys using a host card emulation (HCE) based mobile payment service powered by Nevis Technologies, the joint venture between Scotland’s largest regional transport group Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) and technology provider Rambus... More






Abu Dhabi schools in talks to pilot BLE school bus project

UAE-based startup Smart Navigation Systems (SNS) is in talks with “several schools” in Abu Dhabi to begin piloting School Bus Application, a service that notifies parents of the safety of their children when travelling to school using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons on buses... More