Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Fold 4, Galaxy Z Flip 4, Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 5 Pro all offer NFC functionality, while some also include ultra wideband (UWB) capabilities and the phone maker’s own MST magnetic stripe emulation technology... More
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Apple Pay expands to Malaysia
Apple Pay has launched in Malaysia with support for Mastercard and Visa cards issued by AmBank, Maybank and Standard Chartered Bank... More
German football club trials NFC scarves that let fans access the stadium and receive special offers
Fans of German football club 1 FC Köln have trialled a team scarf incorporating an NFC chip that can be used instead of a conventional ticket to gain access to the stadium and also enables users to access exclusive real-time digital content during a match... More
Hong Kong Fire Services Department to launch contactless triage cards to improve emergency response management
Hong Kong’s Fire Services Department is to introduce contactless triage or casualty classification cards containing an NFC chip and a QR code that enable rescue workers to communicate accurate real-time information about the injuries of individuals involved in large-scale accidents to other frontline staff, public hospitals and dispatch centres... More
Colombia to let citizens use digital ID for contactless cross-border travel in South America
Residents of Colombia will soon be able to use an updated version of their digital national identity card — known as La Cédula Digital Colombiana — stored on their Apple or Android smartphone as a passport when travelling to eight other South American countries... More
Nike and Rtfkt use NFC to link physical clothing with NFTs
Nike and its digital fashion brand Rtfkt have launched a hoodie incorporating an NFC chip that enables purchasers to connect it to a digital version of the garment in the form of a non-fungible token (NFT) that can be ‘worn’ by digital avatars in Rtfkt’s Clone X avatar ecosystem... More
More than 34m merchants worldwide to accept contactless payments on NFC smartphones by 2027
The number of merchants worldwide using software point of sale (sPOS) solutions to accept contactless payments on an ordinary NFC smartphone or tablet will increase from 6m in 2022 to more than 34.5m by 2027, according to Juniper Research... More
France lets citizens add a digital version of their health insurance card to their smartphone
Residents across France will soon be able to download and store a digital version of their Carte Vitale health insurance card on their Apple or Android smartphone using the ApCV app currently being piloted in 10 French departments... More
Finland to pilot digital passports for contactless cross-border travel
Residents of Finland could be the first in the European Union to test the use of a digital passport stored on their mobile phone to verify their identity when they travel abroad, according to media reports... More
Huawei Pay goes live in Italy
Customers of Intesa Sanpaolo bank in Italy with a compatible smartphone can now digitise and add their PagoBancomat payment card to a Huawei Pay digital wallet and use it to make in-store NFC mobile payments... More
Varla upgrades e-scooter security with NFC anti-theft system
E-scooter manufacturer Varla has upgraded the NFC-enabled anti-theft system on its Eagle One Pro vehicle to enable owners to lock and unlock it using a digital version of their contactless key card stored on their NFC smartphone... More
Helsinki Regional Transport to roll out validators that support both contactless and QR fare payments
Helsinki Regional Transport (HSL) is to introduce validators across the Finnish capital’s bus, tram, train, metro and ferry networks that will enable passengers to pay their fares using their physical or digital contactless debit, credit or transit card or via a QR code... More
More than 160,000 stores worldwide will support contactless mobile self-scan shopping by 2027
The number of stores worldwide that enable customers to self-scan their purchases on their own smartphone or a device provided by the merchant rose by 10,000 during 2021 to reach a total of 46,000, but that total is set to more than triple and exceed 161,000 globally by 2027, according to Retail Banking Research (RBR)... More
Global digital wallet spend to exceed US$12tn in 2026
The total value of digital wallet transactions globally will exceed US$12tn in 2026, up from US$7.5tn in 2022, and the total number of digital wallet users worldwide will increase from 3.4 billion in 2022 to more than 5.2 billion in 2026, according to a forecast by Juniper Research... More
Survey finds four in ten businesses are planning to upgrade to a mobile-ready contactless access control solution
More than four in ten businesses are planning to adopt a mobile-ready contactless access control solution (42%) while just under one in four have already upgraded to a mobile-ready system (24%), a survey of professionals from across a range of industries worldwide reveals... More
Linxens opens NFCW Expo showcase
EXHIBITOR NEWS: Smartcard microconnector, inlay and antenna leader Linxens has opened a booth in the NFCW Expo, showcasing its latest contactless card innovations and providing readers with an easy way to connect with the company to learn more about its products and services... More
Nine in ten users give Moscow Metro’s Face Pay biometric contactless fare payment system high satisfaction rating
Moscow Metro’s Face Pay biometric contactless fare payment system has achieved “high satisfaction rates” with nearly nine in ten users saying they “appreciate the advantages of the technology and prefer this system to other payment methods” (88%), a survey reveals... More
Greece rolls out digital ID cards and driving licences
Greek citizens can now create, store and present digital versions of their national identity card and driving licence using a digital identity wallet on their smartphone... More
UK government to implement contactless digital border
The UK government is to begin testing technologies and greater use of biometric innovations for automated border identity verification checks as part of its newly published plans to develop, test and implement a “contactless digital border” at airports, ports and other entry points to the country... More
NFC Forum reports surge in worldwide use of contactless NFC technology
More than eight in ten consumers have used “an NFC contactless card or mobile payment wallet” (85%) and contactless payment card usage has increased by 30% over the past two years, according to a survey of consumers in nine countries around the world that has been conducted for the NFC Forum... More