US supermarket chain Kroger is to pilot its first all self-checkout grocery store in Dallas, Texas, enabling customers to scan and pay for their purchases without needing to go through a cashier-staffed checkout lane... More
Digital wallet
Survey: Eight in ten central banks are now actively engaged in digital currency projects
More than four-fifths of the world’s central banks (86%) are engaged in “some form of work” on a central bank digital currency (CBDC), up from “about one third” in 2019, according to a Bank for International Settlements (BIS) survey... More
Chinese banks launch mobile wallets that let customers transact in digital yuan
At least eight major banks, including Hong Kong-based China CITIC Bank, have now introduced or are in the process of introducing digital wallets that support China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), according to local media reports... More
Mastercard unveils enhanced contactless payment specifications
Mastercard has announced new specifications for contactless payments that will offer quantum-resistant security via “next-generation algorithms and cryptographic key strengths”, enhanced privacy at the checkout and “help ensure any device truly can be a payment device”... More
PBOC to launch third digital yuan trial in Shenzhen
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is to follow its pilots of NFC-based contactless digital currency payments with the distribution of a further 20m digital yuan (US$3.1m) in a third ‘red envelope’ lottery to be held in the city of Shenzhen... More
Global digital wallet spending to top $10tn in 2025
The total value of digital wallet transactions globally will reach more than US$10tn in 2025, according to Juniper Research, “with over 34% of mobile handsets set to use contactless payments in 2025, up from 11% in 2020.”... More
Vaccine credentials coalition to develop interoperable digital Covid-19 passport
A coalition of technology and healthcare providers in the US has launched an initiative to develop a solution that will enable individuals to store and access their Covid-19 vaccination records in their digital wallet “in a secure, verifiable and privacy preserving way”... More
PBOC pilots contactless cards and wearables that let consumers make payments with China’s digital currency
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has expanded its central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot to include a contactless ‘hard wallet’ and NFC wearables that enable consumers to make in-store and transit fare payments with their digital yuan... More
Dubai adds Nol transit cards to Huawei NFC smartphones
Public transport users in Dubai can now use a Huawei NFC smartphone to pay for tickets on metro, tram, waterbus and other transit services operated by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) using a digital version of the Nol transit card... More
Visa proposes CBDC protocol that lets consumers exchange digital cash via Bluetooth or NFC
Visa has published a research paper exploring an offline payment system (OPS) protocol for central bank digital currencies (CBDC) that would enable users to make digital payments to other users even when both sender and recipient are temporarily offline or unable to connect to a bank, payment network or other intermediary... More
Barclaycard to let business customers issue employees with digital corporate cards that support NFC mobile payments
Barclaycard is introducing a service that enables businesses in the UK to provide their employees with virtual corporate cards that can be used to make payments both online and at physical locations... More
In-vehicle payments forecast to reach US$1bn by 2023
The total transaction value of in-vehicle payments will reach US$1bn by 2023, up from less than US$100m in 2020, according to a forecast by Gartner... More
Transport for NSW begins digital Opal transit card pilot
Passengers using Transport for NSW public transport services in Australia can now apply to take part in a year-long pilot to test a digital version of the Opal transit card that enables them to pay fares from a digital wallet on their mobile phone or smartwatch... More
PBOC to trial online and offline payment functions in second digital yuan red envelope giveaway
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is to enable participants in the next phase of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot to test for the first time the use of digital yuan for making both online purchases and touch-based in-store offline payments... More
Octopus adds travel info and P2P NFC transfers to transit wallet
Octopus transit card holders in Hong Kong can now use their Octopus App to view travel information and transport services “at a glance” and transfer funds from one card to another via NFC... More
American Express adds instant digital card provisioning for Apple Pay
American Express cardholders in the USA can now add their card to their Apple Pay wallet via the card network’s website as soon as their application has been approved, removing the need to wait for a physical card to arrive or to manually input their card details... More
Huawei Pay goes live in Malaysia
Malaysian consumers with compatible Huawei smartphones can now use Huawei Pay to make NFC mobile payments with an ICBC UnionPay credit card stored in their mobile wallet... More
China to maintain central database of all digital currency transactions
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) will keep a database of all transactions made using the digital yuan, China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), according to China Daily... More
Juniper: Payments from smart home devices will top US$164bn by 2025
The total global transaction value of purchases made using smart home devices is expected to rise from US$22bn this year to more than US$164bn in 2025, according to Juniper Research... More
Huawei integrates digital yuan hardware wallets into Mate 40 NFC smartphone
Owners of Huawei’s Mate 40 in China will be able to make transactions in digital yuan from a central bank digital currency (CBDC) hardware wallet built into the soon-to-be-released smartphone... More