Merchants in the US will soon be able to accept contactless payments on their iPhone via a “partner-enabled iOS app” without needing to connect their device to a payment terminal or other additional hardware, Apple has announced... More
Nearly 20% of all in-person Visa card transactions in the US are now contactless, with that proportion rising to more than 25% in Los Angeles, Detroit, Orange County, Miami and Salt Lake City, over 30% in San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland, and reaching 45% in New York, according to the card network’s Q1 2022 earnings call... More
Citizens of Pakistan will soon be able to apply for, store and display a digital version of their national identity card in a digital ID wallet on their smartphone using an updated version of the country’s Pak-ID mobile app... More
One in two in-person transactions authorised, cleared and settled through Mastercard’s payment processing services worldwide during Q4 2021 were contactless, up from “approximately” one in three in the period prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to figures revealed at the card network’s Q4 earnings call... More
Chinese consumers can now make online payments for purchases from the JD.com ecommerce app using digital yuan stored on a physical card or hard wallet via their Android NFC smartphone... More
The 12 Russian banks taking part in the first phase of the Central Bank of Russia’s digital ruble pilot scheme have started or are ready to start trialling the central bank digital currency (CBDC) across a range of payment types... More
Google is seeking to focus on developing Google Pay into a multipurpose digital wallet by extending the range of cards, passes and tickets that the service supports and is working with cryptocurrency providers to introduce digital cards that will enable users to store crypto assets but still make payments in conventional currencies... More
Apple Pay has launched in Armenia with support for Mastercard and Visa cards issued by Acba Bank, Ardshinbank, Ameriabank, Converse Bank, Inecobank and Unibank... More
Android and Apple users in 10 Chinese cities can now download a pilot version of the country’s digital yuan wallet app directly from the iOS and Android app stores that enables them to acquire, store and use China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC)... More
Rail passengers at Tokyo and Yokohama stations in Japan can now order, collect and pay for coffee made by a six-armed AI-powered robot barista — known as Ella — at a fully automated contactless coffee shop... More
The state government of New South Wales in Australia is to expand its digital ID system and enable citizens to store, display and renew a wider range of identity documents and other personal credentials including digital versions of their birth certificate, educational qualifications, seniors card and vocational licences in a digital wallet on their mobile device... More
Consumers in the Berkshires region of western Massachusetts in the US will soon be able to make in-store and online purchases and carry out person-to-person transactions using a digital version of the BerkShares local currency... More
More than 488,000 consumers in Nigeria have downloaded an eNaira digital wallet and conducted transactions worth a total of 62m naira (US$151,000) in the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) since its launch in October, according to a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) spokesman... More
The total number of personal and corporate digital yuan wallets issued in China has risen from 24.5m in July to 140m as of October, an increase of nearly 600%, the People’s Bank of China’s Mu Changchun has revealed... More
Apple Pay has rolled out in Azerbaijan, Colombia and Costa Rica with support for cards issued by Bank Respublika, Unibank, ABB and Kapital Bank in Azerbaijan, Bancolombia and Nu Colombia digital bank in Colombia, and Banco de Costa Rica, Banco Promerica, BAC Credomatic and Scotiabank in Costa Rica... More
Ireland-based patent-holding company Aire Technology has filed a lawsuit against Apple over alleged infringement of patents relating to NFC and digital wallet technologies with the US District Court for the Western District of Texas... More
Passengers travelling on Metrolinx’s Union Pearson (UP) Express airport rail link in the Canadian city of Toronto can now opt to pay their fares with their contactless debit card as part of the transport agency’s trial of its Presto open payment ticketing system... More
The Chinese government is reportedly putting pressure on US-based companies including McDonald’s, Visa and Nike to accept payments in digital yuan before the start of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics... More
Passengers on bus, subway and suburban rail services in the Chinese capital Beijing can now receive a discount and pay as little as 0.01 yuan for their journey if they use the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) to pay their fares from a digital yuan mobile wallet issued by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China... More
Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank as well as supermarket chains Coles and Woolworths and fintechs Azupay, Beem It and Merchant Warrior have confirmed they will support the rollout of the national QR payments and rewards platform developed by Australia’s Eftpos payments system... More