Workers on a construction site on Heriot-Watt University’s Edinburgh campus in Scotland can now verify their identity and gain access to the site using only their face... More
Construction workers gain contactless access to site with their faces
Covid-19
World Bank finds contactless cards are not yet displacing cash
Contactless payments technology is causing “a sizable increase in the use of debit cards for small-value payments”, but is having an “economically small and statistically insignificant” impact on the use of cash and cash demand, according to a study conducted by the World Bank... More
EU Digital Covid Certificate goes live in seven European countries
Seven European countries — Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece and Poland — have begun issuing the European Union’s Digital Covid Certificate one month ahead of the full 1 July rollout announced last week... More
EU targets 1 July for European digital Covid certificate launch
The European Union’s proposed digital Covid certificate that will enable EU residents to confirm that they have been vaccinated against Covid-19, received a negative test result or recovered from the illness is “well on track to be ready by the end of June”, according to the European Commission... More
England rolls out digital vaccine certificates on NHS app
Residents of England who have been inoculated against Covid-19 can now use the National Health Service’s NHS App to access a digital certificate confirming their vaccine status on their iOS or Android device without needing to request certification from their GP... More
ABI forecasts open loop EMV transit ticketing payment cards to top 136m by 2025
The number of open-loop EMV contactless cards used to make transit ticketing payments worldwide will increase from 24.8m currently to 136.9m by 2025, according to an ABI Research forecast... More
Turkey lets citizens create vaccine ID card via Covid-19 information app
Turkish citizens will be able to verify that they have been fully inoculated against Covid-19 using a “vaccine ID card” created through the Turkish Health Ministry’s Hayat Eve Sığar (HES) Covid-19 information app, according to a report by Hurriyet Daily News... More
ANA invites passengers with NFC phones to pilot IATA digital travel pass
All Nippon Airways (ANA) is to trial the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Travel Pass app, enabling passengers on selected flights between Japan and the US to verify their identity and their Covid-19 test results at check-in on their NFC-enabled smartphone... More
Most UK retailers say strong customer authentication is not a key concern for post-pandemic recovery
Only one in six (12.8%) UK merchants rates the introduction of strong customer authentication (SCA) for online payments as a big business concern as the economy recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a survey published by Signifyd... More
Visa switches on Apple Pay support in Japan
Consumers in Japan can now add their Visa credit or debit cards to Apple Pay and use them to make in-store, in-app and online payments from their iPhone or Apple Watch... More
More than 90% of consumers worldwide will consider using digital payments in the next year, Mastercard predicts
More than nine in 10 consumers (93%) will consider using digital payment methods including contactless, QR code and biometric payments as well as cryptocurrency transactions in the next year, according to a Mastercard survey... More
Stats show regional variations in UK adoption of contactless and mobile payments during pandemic
The number of payments made using Apple Pay and Google Pay increased by nearly 650% and the number of PIN-free contactless card transactions grew by more than 10% in certain regions of the UK, according to figures published by merchant payments provider Dojo... More
UK retailers explore facial analysis technology for customer age verification
Supermarkets, convenience stores and other retailers in the UK could soon begin trialling facial analysis technology that enables them to verify a customer’s age when purchasing alcohol at self-checkouts without requiring a staff member to check their ID... More
Hong Kong and Macau to distribute stimulus payments to citizens’ digital wallets
The governments of Hong Kong and Macau are to stimulate consumer spending by distributing digital payment vouchers that residents can store in their mobile wallets or on a prepaid smartcard and then use to make purchases from retailers and other local businesses... More
US Army looks to replace plastic ID cards with biometric authentication
The US Army is aiming to introduce a biometric identification and access control system at military facilities to replace its current smartcard-based Common Access Card (CAC) and reduce the risk of transmitting Covid-19 through the handling of physical cards... More
NFC-enabled smart bandage aids healing, could detect Covid-19 symptoms, researchers say
Researchers at the University of Glasgow have developed a smart bandage incorporating wireless sensors and an NFC tag that can monitor a patient’s temperature and skin strain level, apply pressure to help a wound heal and transmit data to healthcare providers via a smartphone app... More
More than 100m Americans to make an in-store mobile payment in 2021
The number of American consumers using their smartphone to make in-store mobile payments will reach 101.2 million in 2021 following a 29% increase in usage during 2020, according to an eMarketer forecast... More
GSMA reports ‘dramatic acceleration’ in mobile money transactions
The number of registered mobile money accounts globally grew by 13% in 2020 to reach a total of more than 1.2bn, according to research by the GSMA... More
Thai and Vietnamese central banks roll out cross-border QR payments
The Bank of Thailand and the State Bank of Vietnam have launched an interoperable cross-border payments system that will enable Thai visitors to Vietnam and Vietnamese visitors to Thailand to make QR code-based payments for goods and services using their mobile banking app... More
European Central Bank reports growth in demand for cash during pandemic
The total value of euro banknotes in circulation rose during the Covid-19 pandemic from €1.3tn (US$1.5tn) at the end of 2019 to €1.4tn (US$1.7tn) at the end of 2020, the European Central Bank (ECB) reports... More