Visa to roll out cashless experience at the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 — Visa — “Alfa-Bank guests will also be able to use a payment ring for the first time at a FIFA event. The payment ring, attached to a prepaid card, features an embedded NFC-enabled antenna, enabling fans to tap to pay throughout Russia, anywhere contactless payments are accepted.”
Cashless
Electronic money transactions are back to pre-demonetization levels
Electronic money transactions are back to pre-demonetization levels — Livemint — “To hasten India’s shift towards a cashless economy, the government has been aggressively pushing digital payments, which had gained momentum after demonetization. However, six months later, Indians seem to have gone back to their old ways of cash.”
Egypt: National Council for payments issues five important decisions
Egypt: National Council for payments issues five important decisions — MobileMoneyAfrica — “The National Council for Payments issued a number of important decisions, with the aim of transforming Egypt from a society that relies on cash to a cashless one.”
OCBC Bank launches cashless QR code payments with its first standalone mobile payments app
OCBC Bank launches cashless QR code payments with its first standalone mobile payments app — OCBC Bank — “The new standalone OCBC Pay Anyone app brings together all OCBC Pay Anyone services and enhancements – peer-to peer e-payments, QR code payments and access to OCBC Pay Anyone integrated with Apple iPhone’s Siri and iMessage – into a fast and easy onestop access to e-payments.”
MUFG seeks to quicken cashless push with card unit buyout
MUFG seeks to quicken cashless push with card unit buyout — Nikkei — “Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group plans to turn a credit card unit into a wholly owned subsidiary and position it as a hub for new financial services such as virtual currency payment… MUFG’s move is driven by the prospect that cashless payment methods such as digital wallets and virtual currency will proliferate in Japan as financial technologies evolve.”
In cashless Sweden, even God now takes collection via an app
In cashless Sweden, even God now takes collection via an app — Bloomberg — “A growing number of Swedish parishes have started taking donations via mobile apps… Most of the country’s bank branches have stopped handling cash; some shops and museums now only accept plastic; and even Stockholm’s homeless have started accepting cards as payment for their magazine.”
Thailand to get standardised QR code payments in move towards cashless society
Mastercard, Visa and UnionPay International have introduced a standardised QR code platform for payments in Thailand that will let consumers make a transaction with their mobile device at any supporting location. The service has been designed to support the Bank of Thailand’s cashless agenda which aims to “drive innovation, interoperability and security in payments” across the country. More
Kiwis warm to mobile, wearable and biometric payments
Nearly six in ten New Zealanders (59%) think mobile payments will be the next major payments technology to take off, followed by payments using wearables like smartwatches (47%) and biometrics such as facial recognition and fingerprints (42%), research released by Mastercard reveals. More
Mahindra Comviva explores the evolution of digital payments in India
The most obvious recent change in the payments landscape across India is the significant increase in the number of digital payments taking place in both urban and rural areas as a result of the measures taken by the Indian government to push the cashless initiative to the top of the nation’s agenda, says Mahindra Comviva’s senior vice president and head of mobile financial solutions. More
Amazon gets approval for digital wallet in India
Amazon India has been granted a payment license by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate its own prepaid wallet in the country... More
Bank of Korea signs up retailers for coinless society trial
The Bank of Korea (BOK) has signed up retailers including CU, 7-Eleven, E-Mart, Lotte Mart and Lotte Department Store to begin trialling a service that will give customers change in the form of a top-up to a prepaid card... More
Deutsche Bank customers get HCE mobile payments
Customers of Deutsche Bank in Germany can now make host card emulation (HCE) based mobile payments using their Mastercard credit or debit card through the bank’s Deutsche Bank Mobile app... More
White paper explores how dedicated Android NFC devices can be used to improve the delivery of financial services in emerging markets
Secure, affordable and dedicated Android NFC devices issued to local agents, farmers and financial institutions in emerging markets are improving the delivery of a wide range of services including branchless banking, know your customer procedures and food aid distribution, according to a 19-page white paper that is now available to download from the NFC World Knowledge Centre. More
Jaguar brings in-car fuel payments to Shell service stations
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
India Budget: New measures to promote mobile payments
The Indian government has unveiled new measures to promote a digital economy during its 2017 Budget speech, including “the imminent launch of Aadhaar Pay, a merchant version of the Aadhaar-enabled payment system”, The Times of India reports... More
Korean central bank to put small change on cards
The Bank of Korea (BOK) is to pilot a service that allows merchants to give customers change in the form of a top-up onto a prepaid card instead of coins... More
Volkswagen targets mobile payments business with parking service deal
Volkswagen Financial Services AG, the financial services division of German vehicle manufacturer Volkswagen Group, has bought mobile payment platform PayByPhone to “highly increase” its involvement in mobile payments around the world and to establish a “separate business field around the theme of parking”... More
Mahindra Comviva takes digital payment services to the cloud
PARTNER NEWS: Mobile financial solutions firm Mahindra Comviva’s Mobiquity Wallet and PayPlus digital payment services are now available in the cloud, enabling banks to “deploy services faster, adapt to markets quicker and serve their customers better”... More
Indian merchants get new digital payments service
Vodafone India has unveiled Vodafone M-Pesa Pay, a digital payment solution allowing merchants to receive payments from customers using their M-Pesa wallet, bank account, or debit or credit card... More
Apple Pay advertising sparks strong rise in contactless payments at vending machines
Digital advertising promoting the availability of Apple Pay at unattended vending machines has resulted in a 36.5% increase in overall sales for cashless vending machine technology provider USA Technologies (USAT) as well as a 135.2% increase in NFC mobile payments, a six-month study now available to download from the NFC World Knowledge Centre reveals... More
