Two in three Europeans (66%) would use the European Digital Identity Wallet (EDIW) that the European Union plans to start piloting in 2023, a survey has found... More
Digital wallet
Call for speakers: Contactless Technology Week
Do you have expertise in contactless cards, NFC, UWB, biometrics, BLE, RFID, tokenization, digital wallets or wearables that you’d like to share with NFCW’s 12,500 members around the world... More
China pilots NFC devices that combine digital currency payments with student IDs
Students attending Hainan Lu Xun Middle School in the Chinese city of Sanya are the first in the country to trial a digital yuan hard wallet device that enables them to make payments to designated merchants on and off the school’s campus using China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) as well as verify their identity using NFC... More
Global survey finds more than half of consumers continue to prefer using a physical payment card for in-person purchases
More than one in two consumers worldwide prefer using a physical payment card to using cash or a digital wallet when making in-person purchases (53%), a survey has revealed... More
Google launches multipurpose digital wallet with support for digital IDs, tickets and payment cards
Google is rolling out a digital wallet that will enable users to store, use and present digital identity documents and driving licences as well as payment cards, transit and event tickets, boarding and loyalty passes, health documents such as Covid-19 vaccination certificates, hotel keys and office badges on their Android smartphone or Wear OS smartwatch... More
PayPal lets merchants in the UK, Sweden and the Netherlands accept contactless payments on NFC smartphones
Merchants in the UK, Sweden and the Netherlands can now accept contactless payments on a standard Android NFC smartphone or other mobile device using a software point of sale (sPOS) solution being rolled out by PayPal... More
EU accuses Apple of breaching competition law by restricting NFC chip access
The European Commission has sent an official statement of objections to Apple laying out the reasons why it believes the company has “abused its dominant position in markets for mobile wallets on iOS devices” and is restricting competition by limiting third-party access to its NFC chip technology... More
PayPal and Alipay top digital wallet leaderboard
PayPal, followed by Alipay, are the top two digital wallet providers, with WeChat Pay, Apple Pay and Google Pay in third, fourth and fifth place, respectively, according to a Juniper Research Competitor Leaderboard report... More
Riksbank completes digital currency payments pilot
Sweden’s central bank The Riksbank has completed the second phase of its e-krona central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot and demonstrated that the blockchain-based technical solution it is testing can be integrated into existing banking and payments infrastructure... More
Apple Pay goes live in Moldova
Apple Pay has launched in Moldova with support for Mastercard and Visa cards issued by Maib, Moldindconbank and Victoriabank... More
Jamaica begins central bank digital currency rollout
Residents of Jamaica can now open a digital wallet that supports the country’s Jam-Dex central bank digital currency (CBDC) as the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) prepares to launch the CBDC during the April to June quarter... More
Contactless P2P payments to drive adoption of digital euro, central bank survey finds
European consumers consider the ability to make instant contactless payments, including person-to-person transfers, to be a priority and “a very important selling point” for a digital euro, according to European Central Bank (ECB) research... More
Apple Pay and Google Pay suspend contactless mobile payments for Mir cardholders in Russia
Apple Pay and Google Pay are suspending support for contactless mobile payments made using Mir cards issued by Russia’s National Payment Card System (NSPK)... More
Holland America Line lets cruise passengers check in with their face
Passengers on Holland America Line cruise ships will soon be able to check in before embarkation with their face using contactless biometric face verification technology and confirm their health status with a digital version of their Covid-19 vaccination certificate or test results stored on their mobile device... More
Bank of Ghana lays out core design principles for CBDC pilot
The Bank of Ghana (BOG) is to pilot a two-tier token-based retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) that can be used with either a digital wallet app managed by a financial institution or a physical hardware wallet such as a contactless smart card that can be used offline and by unbanked consumers... More
China updates digital yuan wallet app for Apple users
China has issued an update to the pilot version of its digital yuan wallet app for Apple users that is “adapted to the iOS 15.4 system changes” released this week, and has uncovered an attempt to use the central bank digital currency (CBDC) in a fraud and money laundering case, according to local media reports... More
Apple Pay goes live in Argentina and Peru
Apple Pay has launched in Argentina and Peru with support for Mastercard and Visa cards issued by six banks in Argentina and five in Peru. It has confirmed the service is now live in both countries. More
OEM Pay ecommerce transaction volumes to exceed 30.7bn by 2026
Consumers worldwide will use payment services provided by smartphone makers and other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to make more than 30.7bn ecommerce transactions by 2026, an increase of more than 24.5bn on the 6.1bn predicted for 2022, according to a forecast by Juniper Research... More
China to roll out next phase of digital yuan testing
China is to launch trials of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) in more cities and regions across the country after rolling out a pilot version of the digital yuan wallet app in January and trialling the CBDC during the Beijing Winter Olympics... More
Taiwan to complete central bank digital currency pilot by September
The Central Bank of Taiwan (CBT) has accelerated its research into the development of a Taiwanese central bank digital currency (CBDC) and expects to complete the second phase of its pilot programme by September this year... More