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
Euro zone consumers still addicted to cash when they buy — Reuters — “Cash still dominates consumer payments in the euro zone, even as many Western economies are rapidly moving towards electronic payments, a survey published by the European Central Bank showed on Friday… The figures indicate that the euro zone is one of the slowest among big Western economies in giving up cash, trailing countries like the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada.”
Over 20 financial institutions in the US, Europe add support for Apple Pay — Apple Insider — “Apple added another 22 banks and credit unions to its roster of Apple Pay-supporting institutions in the United States, with the new additions to the collection joined by a number of European institutions… The latest batch of institutions to join the Apple Pay support page are, like the last update, made up of regional banks and credit unions.”
Starling Bank passports to Europe, first stop Ireland — Techcrunch — “After a staggered launch of its current account kicked off in March, the digital-only bank is announcing imminent expansion to Europe, starting with the Republic of Ireland where it has attained a so-called ‘banking passport’.”
More than half of all card-present transactions conducted globally (52.4%) between January and December 2016 used the EMV chip card standard, up from 35.8% for the same period in 2015, standards body EMVCo has revealed... More
Employees at Pick n Pay supermarket stores and Absa Bank staff across South Africa have been trialling a biometric card developed by Mastercard that lets them make a payment at any EMV terminal and authenticate the transaction by placing their finger on the embedded sensor. Additional trials are planned over the next few months, with a full roll out expected “later this year”. More
The global number of NFC SIM card shipments decreased in 2016 due in part to a “lower than anticipated” consumer uptake of SIM-based mobile payments and the impact of the closure of the Softcard mobile wallet in the US, the SIMalliance has revealed, despite reporting growth in NFC SIM shipments in key countries across Europe and the CIS regions, highlighting the demand in specific markets. More
Samsung has unveiled its latest Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus flagship devices, with support for iris and facial recognition technology and a fingerprint sensor which is now located on the back of the phone. Samsung Pass deals with major banks, an expansion of Samsung Pay to include online payments and details of its Bixby virtual assistant have also been announced. More
A digital cash service allowing consumers — including those without bank accounts — to load money onto a range of wearable items and make contactless payments in retail outlets will roll out across “eight or nine countries” in North America, Europe and Africa from April 2017... More
Vodafone Germany customers can now make NFC mobile payments using PayPal or a Visa credit card installed in the mobile network operator’s Vodafone Wallet... More
Some 8.4bn connected “things” will be in use worldwide in 2017, up 31% from 2016, with 20.4bn in use by 2020, Gartner predicts... More
The amount of money spent around the world using a mobile wallet will rise by nearly 32% this year to US$1.35tn, Juniper Research predicts... More
US consumers will soon be able to make NFC mobile payments using their PayPal mobile wallet at all physical locations across the country that currently accept Visa contactless transactions. More
Mobile POS provider Square has incorporated a business called Squareup Europe in the UK, suggesting that the company could be setting itself up for its first European launch... More
Mastercard has unveiled an enhanced version of its Masterpass digital payment platform, adding in-store NFC mobile payment capability to the service that has so far only been available for online and in-app payments. More
More than two thirds (68%) of European consumers want to use biometrics as a method of payment authentication, research from Visa reveals, and 73% see two-factor authentication as a secure way to confirm an account holder’s identity. More
PARTNER NEWS: Digital payment solutions provider Proxama is to supply transaction automation solutions provider Printec Group with its NFC mobile payment, PIN management, tokenization and EMV enablement solutions across Central and South-Eastern Europe. More
Payment processor Worldline is adding support for Alipay mobile payments in Germany... More
Customers of banks belonging to Danish banking collective The Bokis Partnership will soon be able to make host card emulation (HCE) based mobile payments via a service that uses an HCE and tokenization platform from digital payment services provider Nets and Carta Worldwide. More
Customers of Vodafone Italia can now make NFC mobile payments through PayPal using the mobile network operator’s Vodafone Wallet. The service will allow for in-store payments at any Visa contactless terminal across the country. More
