The number of new Hyundai Cards issued in South Korea since Apple Pay launched in the country has now reached 355,000, with nearly eight in ten of new cardholders being Millennials or belonging to Generation Z (79%)... More
Contactless
Qatar Central Bank rolls out interoperable national mobile payments system
Qatar Central Bank (QCB) has launched an interoperable national mobile payments system that enables Qatari residents and visitors to register and create digital wallets, complete instant money transfers and make in-store QR code payments with their mobile device... More
UK food bank lets users make in-store purchases with donated funds
Food bank users in the London borough of Hackney in the UK can now buy essential food items at local grocery stores by using a smartphone app to generate a QR code with their face and then use this code to authorise payments from dedicated funds... More
Greece to get contactless open loop fare payments on buses in 33 cities and islands
Passengers using bus services across 33 cities and islands in Greece will soon be able to make contactless fare payments for their journeys using their own locally issued or international credit, debit or prepaid card... More
Singapore lays out plans for passport-free contactless biometric in-car border checks
Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) is to implement an upgraded version of the contactless biometric automated in-car clearance system (APICS) that it began testing using a passport-based solution in July 2022... More
Wendy’s pilots AI for contactless fast food ordering at drive-thrus
Wendy’s is to pilot an automated contactless fast food ordering system that will enable customers to place their orders at a drive-through via an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot that will have “the ability to understand made-to-order requests and generate responses to frequently asked questions”... More
Colombian banks pilot national digital IDs for transaction authentication
Residents of Colombia with a La Cédula Digital Colombiana digital national identity card can now use their facial biometric data stored on the National Registry of Civil Status to authenticate their identity when opening a bank account, requesting a loan or carrying out other transactions on mobile banking apps, at bank branches and at ATMs... More
Malaysian Islamic centre pilots softPOS technology for contactless charity donations
The Zakat Collection Centre of the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council (PPZ-MAIWP) in Malaysia has begun piloting a software-only point-of-sale (softPOS) solution that enables designated collectors to accept contactless charitable donations on their Android NFC smartphone... More
Renault uses NFC to let purchasers authenticate physical versions of digital sneakers
Renault is releasing a collection of individually numbered limited edition sneakers fitted with an NFC chip that enables purchasers to link their purchase to a non-fungible token (NFT) that certifies their ownership and authenticates its provenance with a tap of their smartphone... More
Valencia to upgrade transit system for open loop contactless fare payments and mobile ticketing
Passengers travelling on metro and tram services in the Spanish city of Valencia will be able to pay for their fares with a contactless bank card or validate mobile or paper tickets with a QR code using an upgraded ticketing and fare payment system to be implemented across the Metrovalencia network... More
Costa Rica to roll out RFID tags for vehicle registration and contactless toll payments
The government of Costa Rica has launched a project to develop an RFID tag that can be fitted in cars and other vehicles as a replacement for the right of circulation stickers that drivers are obliged to fix to their vehicle’s windscreen to prove they have paid their annual road tax... More
Central Bank of Kenya launches national QR payments standard
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has launched a standard for the generation of QR codes in the country’s retail payments sector as the first phase of a nationwide rollout of a universal QR code payments system... More
Apple Pay goes live in El Salvador and Guatemala
Apple Pay has launched in El Salvador and Guatemala with support for Mastercard and Visa credit and debit cards issued by BAC Credomatic and Promerica banks in both countries as well as by Banco G&T and Banco Industrial in Guatemala... More
Four in ten US consumers prefer using Google Pay or Apple Pay for bar and restaurant payments
Nearly 40% of consumers in the US say they prefer to pay for their orders at bars and restaurants using mobile payments apps such as Apple Pay or Google Pay rather than a physical credit or debit card, according to a survey... More
Richmond International Airport to pilot contactless biometric cards for access control
Richmond International Airport is the first in the USA to test contactless biometric access control cards that enable employees or other authorised cardholders to verify their identity at entrances to secure areas using two-factor authentication... More
Brazil to pilot digital currency in stores
The Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) is to begin piloting the use of its proposed central bank digital currency (CBDC) across a range of transactions including in-store and offline NFC payments... More
ST explains how manufacturers can use NFC to enhance product and environmental monitoring across the supply chain
KNOWLEDGE CENTRE: A new white paper from STMicroelectronics that explains how industrial monitoring system providers can leverage NFC technology to enable end users to monitor product quality and safety at every stage of the supply chain is now available to download from the NFCW Knowledge Centre... More
Digital fashion house links upcycled physical Levi’s jeans to NFTs with NFC
Digital fashion house MNTGE has released a limited edition pair of upcycled Levi’s jeans that purchasers can link to a non-fungible token (NFT) by scanning an NFC chip in the physical garment... More
Puma uses NFC to authenticate and link physical sneakers with NFTs
Purchasers of a limited edition pair of Grailed Puma Slipstream sneakers can authenticate their purchase and link to a digital twin in the form of a non-fungible token (NFT) that they can use in the metaverse by tapping an NFC chip embedded in the physical footwear... More
University of Florida to launch contactless mobile student IDs
Students at the University of Florida in the US will soon be able to gain access to campus buildings, events and library services as well as authorise contactless payments for food, beverages and books using a digital student identity card stored on their Apple or Android NFC smartphone or smartwatch... More