Tap to pay is taking off — Visa — “Globally, adoption continues to see strong growth with nearly half of all face-to-face Visa transactions occurring with a tap outside the US. In the last year, nearly 50 countries have seen a 10 point or greater increase in tap-to-pay penetration of all domestic face-to-face transactions.”
Contactless
Ticketmaster to roll out NFC ticketing for iPhones and Apple Watches ‘later this year’
Ticketmaster customers will be able to add contactless tickets to Apple Wallet later this year, enabling their tickets to be automatically selected via NFC when they hold their iPhone or Apple Watch near a ticket reader... More
Erste Bank adds NFC to its QR mobile payments app
Hungarian bank Erste has upgraded its Erste MobilePay application for Android phones to include NFC functionality, enabling customers to use their phones for contactless payment... More
Kenyan charity issues contactless wristbands to students for discounted meal payments
Kenyan social enterprise Food for Education is speeding up the rollout of its Tap2Eat NFC cash replacement system for subsidised school meals following a successful pilot in three primary schools in Nairobi involving 150 students... More
Analysts: Contactless card rollout could push US mobile payment users back to plastic
Familiarity with mobile payments could help to drive adoption of contactless cards in the US but could in turn move those that have already adopted mobile payments back to physical methods of payment, according to a new issue of Auriemma Research’s Mobile Pay Tracker... More
MetroRio launches contactless transit ticketing payments in Brazil
Brazilian transit operator MetroRio, which runs the Rio de Janeiro Metro, has begun the rollout of contactless payments in partnership with Visa, Banco do Brasil, Bradesco and Cielo, becoming the first transit operator in the world to use the new Visa Secure Access Module (SAM) technology as part of the project... More
Apple Pay goes live in Iceland
Apple Pay launches in Iceland with support from Arion Banki and Landsbankinn — AppleInsider — “The two banks announced support for Apple Pay on Wednesday via their official websites and Twitter. Available straight away, the added support now means customers that have accounts with either of the banks are able to add their card to the Wallet app, and use it to make contactless payments using Apple Pay for the iPhone and the Apple Watch.”
Contactless diamond bracelet lets owners spend up to £1m
Swiss FinTech brand Armillion has unveiled the ultimate in wearable technology: a contactless payment bracelet that’s decorated with 252 cut diamonds, costs more than £60,000 (US$78,362) and can be used for purchases of up to £1m (US$1.3m)... More
Boston Fed reports on contactless card and NFC payments adoption issues
The rollout of contactless cards in the US should have an overall positive influence on NFC mobile payments adoption in the US, according to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston — but both consumers and merchants have ongoing adoption issues that remain to be resolved... More
KBC reports on take-up of non-banking services following wearables payments trial expansion
Belgian bank KBC has reported on the take-up of the non-banking services such as car parking and transit ticketing that it has been adding to its mobile banking app since launching it last summer... More
KeyBank to roll out contactless cards in the US
KeyBank, one of the largest bank-based financial services companies in the US, has begun issuing contactless credit and debit cards to its customers... More
NatWest Bank begins UK’s first trial of contactless biometric cards
NatWest Bank has begun a three-month pilot of bank cards incorporating a fingerprint... More
Visa unveils next generation payments platform
Visa is inviting issuers and processors to explore a new payments platform designed to “turn the transaction on its head” and “unlock an entirely new world of possibility when it comes to accessing, accruing and saving money”... More
JCPenney pulls support for contactless payments
JCPenney explains why it dropped Apple Pay — Techcrunch — “A third-party credit card brand made the requirement for all merchants to actively support EMV contactless functionality effective April 13, retiring the legacy MSD contactless technology in place. Given the resources and lead time associated with meeting the new mandate, JCPenney chose to suspend all contactless payment options until a later date.”
Queensland rolls out contactless driving licences
Revamped ‘tap and go’ licences now available — The Queensland Times — “The updated design means the chip, which is now contained within the card, is no longer visible, allowing space for a bigger font to assist police and security staff reading the cards. The cards also have updated security features.”
Oppo enters the OEM Pay market in China
Oppo to test launch Oppo Pay in China — TechGenYZ — “Oppo will cooperate with China UnionPay to test and launch Oppo Pay. The company is trying to make contactless payments easy with the help of a transit card that is equipped with NFC in China.”
Finnish banks double contactless transaction limit to €50
Banks increase limits for contactless payments — News Now Finland — “Customers in most Finnish banks can now use their bank cards to make contactless payments up to €50. The previous limit was €25… 79% of Finns use contactless payments. Two years ago that figure was only 52%.”
One in eight contactless journeys in London now made with mobile phones
How the London Underground brings in 53,000 new contactless users a day — PaymentsSource — “More than 21.6m journeys per week are made on London public transit using contactless payments. More than 53,000 new contactless cards or new mobile contactless payments enter the TfL each day, and one in eight contactless journeys come via Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, or other mobile wallet apps.”
Bespoke shirtmaker to add payments to cuffs
A dress shirt which incorporates contactless payment technology in the cuff is set to go on sale this summer... More
Wells Fargo to add contactless functionality to US credit and debit cards
Wells Fargo accelerates customer checkout experience with new tap-to-pay contactless cards — Wells Fargo — “This week, new Wells Fargo consumer credit cardholders began receiving cards with the contactless feature when opening an account, and existing Wells Fargo consumer credit cardholders will receive a new contactless card when their current credit card expires. Consumer debit cards with the contactless feature will start to become available this summer.”