Total transaction values for contactless transit fare payments made using a QR code will almost triple and reach US$17.7bn worldwide by 2028, according to a forecast by Juniper Research... More
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is to launch the country’s first national domestic card scheme (DCS) in order to promote the use of digital payments and enhance financial inclusion... More
Total card purchase volume worldwide reached US$42.7tn in 2022 with global credit card volumes increasing by 7% and prepaid card volumes by 9%, according to research from RBR... More
The total number of QR code payments made in SE Asia will reach 90bn by 2028, up from a total QR code transaction volume in the region of 13bn in 2023, according to a forecast by Juniper Research... More
“We believe that the digital euro is the natural and digital evolution of our currency,” Evelien Witlox, the programme director in charge of the European Central Bank’s digital euro project, reports in a presentation for NFCW’s Contactless World Congress online event series which is now available to view in the NFCW Knowledge Centre... More
Google is adding QR payments to Google Wallet and users in Brazil will be the first in the world to use their Google Wallet to make mobile payments with QR codes, Google VP and country director for Brazil Fabio Coelho has revealed... More
The European Central Bank (ECB) should continue to develop the digital euro and start its proposed testing phase in October this year, but should not go ahead with launching the proposed central bank digital currency (CBDC) “unless new elements emerge strongly supporting such a decision”, according to an analysis paper requested by the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON)... More
Qatar Central Bank (QCB) has launched an interoperable national mobile payments system that enables Qatari residents and visitors to register and create digital wallets, complete instant money transfers and make in-store QR code payments with their mobile device... More
The digital euro should be distributed via apps, digital and physical cards and other form factors that enable consumers to make both NFC and QR code in-store payments with the proposed central bank digital currency (CBDC), according to a European Central Bank (ECB) report... More
The number of registered mobile money accounts globally rose by 13% from 1.4bn in 2021 to 1.6bn in 2022 and total mobile money transaction values grew by 22% from US$1tn to US$1.26tn over the same period, according to research by the GSMA... More
The central bank of Laos has begun testing a proof of concept central bank digital currency (CBDC) known as the DLak or digital Lao kip as part of its research into the potential issuance of a CBDC in the country... More
Transit agencies in the US would benefit from introducing open loop contactless fare payment systems but widespread adoption “has remained elusive” owing to challenges that both the US public transportation and payments sectors need to address, according to a report by the Washington DC-based Brookings Institution research group... More
Qatar Central Bank is to launch a national contactless prepaid debit card that will enable both banked and unbanked citizens to make contactless payments at the point of sale, withdraw cash from ATMs and make online purchases... More
The Covid-19 pandemic has driven a “global surge” in digital payments with two-thirds of adults worldwide now making or receiving digital payments, rising from 35% in 2014 to 57% in 2021 in developing economies and from 88% in 2014 to 95% in 2021 in high-income economies, according to the World Bank’s Global Findex 2021 database... More
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is to enable consumers without smartphones to make transactions with the country’s eNaira central bank digital currency (CBDC) on devices such as feature phones using unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) codes that work in a similar way to SMS messages... More
Consumers in the Bahamas can now authorise in-store payments using the country’s Sand Dollar central bank digital currency (CBDC) from a SunCash mobile wallet with their face... More
The total transaction values for payments made using QR codes worldwide will reach more than US$3tn by 2025, an increase of 25% from US$2.4tn in 2022, driven by an increasing focus on financial inclusion in developing markets and alternative payment methods in developed regions, according to a forecast by Juniper Research... More
Providing a cash-like digital means of payment, increasing private digital payment services, supporting financial inclusion and achieving greater payment system efficiency are among the key motivations driving initiatives to develop central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in emerging market economies around the world, according to a Bank for International Settlements (BIS) report... More
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
US President Joe Biden has signed an executive order (EO) “outlining the first ever, whole-of-government approach to addressing the risks and harnessing the potential benefits of digital assets and their underlying policy” including the possible issuance of a US central bank digital currency (CBDC), the White House says... More