MUFG seeks to quicken cashless push with card unit buyout — Nikkei — “Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group plans to turn a credit card unit into a wholly owned subsidiary and position it as a hub for new financial services such as virtual currency payment… MUFG’s move is driven by the prospect that cashless payment methods such as digital wallets and virtual currency will proliferate in Japan as financial technologies evolve.”
Digital wallet
Kiwis warm to mobile, wearable and biometric payments
Nearly six in ten New Zealanders (59%) think mobile payments will be the next major payments technology to take off, followed by payments using wearables like smartwatches (47%) and biometrics such as facial recognition and fingerprints (42%), research released by Mastercard reveals. More
Visa to use token service to offer customised digital card services
Visa has developed a range of customised digital card management “experiences” that will allow issuers to offer Visa cardholders “greater control and insight over how they pay, where they pay and who can pay” with a digital version of their Visa card... More
Apple to launch P2P payments and debit card this year?
Apple is working to launch a peer-to-peer (P2P) payment service later this year, according to Recode... More
Samsung Pay launches in Sweden and the UAE, enters early access in Hong Kong and Switzerland
Samsung Pay has expanded to four additional markets with official launches in Sweden and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and early access launches in Hong Kong and Switzerland. The service has also been made available on Samsung’s Gear S3 smartwatch in Russia, Sweden and the UAE in addition to its availability on the Gear S3 in the US, Singapore and Australia. More
Mahindra Comviva explores the evolution of digital payments in India
The most obvious recent change in the payments landscape across India is the significant increase in the number of digital payments taking place in both urban and rural areas as a result of the measures taken by the Indian government to push the cashless initiative to the top of the nation’s agenda, says Mahindra Comviva’s senior vice president and head of mobile financial solutions. More
Amazon gets approval for digital wallet in India
Amazon India has been granted a payment license by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate its own prepaid wallet in the country... More
Amazon customers get in-store cash deposits to fund online payments
Amazon customers across the US can now top up their Amazon balance using cash at “thousands of participating convenience, grocery and drug stores” by showing a printed barcode or a barcode on their mobile device to the cashier. They will then be able to use the funds to make online purchases at Amazon. More
Australian banks lose fight to gain access to NFC functionality in Apple iPhones
The group of Australian banks seeking stronger negotiating powers with Apple over the NFC technology within its iPhone handsets have been denied access to it by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on the grounds that the proposed conduct would “reduce or distort competition in a number of markets” and that the benefits are “outweighed by the detriments”. More
Rambus hosts payments leaders in Rotterdam for Mobey Day
PARTNER NEWS: Rambus is hosting Mobey Day in Rotterdam from 21-23 March, bringing together speakers from ING, Aite Group, CaixaBank, Danske Bank and Mastercard to discuss the payments and buying experience... More
Boston Fed calls for more education to boost mobile payments
The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston says awareness of mobile payments “continues to grow” but “more education for consumers and employees” is needed to achieve mass adoption of mobile and digital wallets... More
KredoBank launches HCE mobile payments in Ukraine
Customers of Ukraine’s KredoBank can now make host card emulation (HCE) based mobile payments by adding Mastercard credit or debit cards to its new KredoPay wallet... More
Mastercard analyzes social media payments buzz
Digital wallets were the new way to pay most discussed by consumers on social media in 2016, the 2017 edition of the Mastercard Digital Payments Study has found, with consumers around the world also increasingly interested in the payments possibilities of virtual reality, artificial intelligence, smart home assistants, wearables, and the Internet of Things... More
Turkish retailer adds payments to Messenger bot
Istanbul-based mobile retailer Getir has integrated Mastercard’s Masterpass service into its Facebook Messenger bot, enabling customers to choose products, place their order and pay from within a chat window... More
Apple Pay boss claims Australians will be ‘happy to switch banks’ for the mobile payments service
Apple Pay boss Jennifer Bailey says she believes Australians will be “happy to switch banks” in order to use Apple Pay, while the group of four Australian banks wanting the ability to collectively negotiate with Apple over the introduction of the mobile payments service risks “being left behind” in the development of digital wallets by doing so... More
Apple accuses Australian banks of Apple Pay transaction fee ‘trojan horse’
Australian banks are using fees on Apple Pay transactions as a “trojan horse” to discourage the use of its mobile payments service and to condition consumers to accept transaction fees with the “longer term view to setting a precedent for charging for mobile payments on other digital wallets,” Apple claims in its latest submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)... More
Liverpool gets own currency built with blockchain
The UK city of Liverpool has launched its own digital currency using blockchain technology supplied by Tel-Aviv-based digital wallet provider Colu... More
Apple Pay in Australia ‘will encourage credit card competition’
Apple Pay could encourage competition between banks on credit cards in Australia, prompting more promotions and discounts, according to Apple’s latest submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)... More
Amazon India launches online wallet
Indian shoppers on Amazon India can now store funds and complete online purchases in a new feature called Amazon Pay Balance, Live Mint reports... More
Apple Pay transactions up 500% year on year, CEO reports
Apple Pay transactions have risen nearly 500% year on year, with more purchases made in September 2016 than during the whole fiscal year in 2015, Apple CEO Tim Cook has revealed during the company’s latest quarterly financial results call... More