What's New in Payments

Amazon moves closer to rollout of automated stores

Amazon’s cashierless store is almost ready for prime time — Bloomberg — “For the past year, Amazon employees have been test driving Amazon Go, an experimental convenience store in downtown Seattle. The idea is to let consumers walk in, pick up items and then pay for them without ever standing in line at a cashier… In a sign that the concept is almost ready for prime time, hiring for the Amazon Go team has shifted from the engineers and research scientists needed to perfect the platform to the construction managers and marketers who would build and promote the stores to consumers.”


What's New in Payments

ICICI Bank partners with Paytm to offer instant loans during checkout

Paytm-ICICI Bank Postpaid: Now get instant digital credit in your mobile wallet — BGR — “While checking out, customers will see a ‘Pay Later’ option, and on clicking it, their credit score would be calculated instantly. ICICI Bank will arrive at the credit score based on behavioral data from Paytm, the bank’s own customer data, and financial data from the credit bureau.”


What's New in Payments

UK supermarkets to test face recognition for proof-of-age at self-checkout tills

Supermarket self-service tills replace ID checks with facial recognition — The Telegraph — “The technology will be used to remove in-person age checks when customers are buying alcohol and other age restricted items… Using Yoti at a self service till would involve a QR code showing up on the checkout screen, which could be scanned by the app. The Yoti app would then scan the shopper’s face to confirm their identity, and would then connect to the till over the internet to verify the purchase.”


What's New in Payments

Chatbots to issue over 1bn coupons a year by 2022

Digital coupon redemptions to surpass $90bn by 2022 — Juniper Research — “Juniper has quantified the volume of chatbot coupons as 25m this year, with this set to reach 1.1bn by 2022. The technology will enable greater personalisation of offers; particularly through use via social media, and at a fraction of the cost of using human operatives, and will aid in driving commerce transactions both online and in-store… Mobile will account for nearly 80% of all coupon redemptions by 2022.”


What's New in Payments

Chinese retail giant to open unmanned stores with face recognition and RFID tags

Suning to open four new unmanned stores in China — Suning — “Highlights include: Facial recognition — After linking a bank card and going through the facial recognition on Suning Finance app, customers will be able to enter the store simply by letting the camera scan their faces at the entrance. Effortless shopping experience — To check out, shoppers only need to carry their goods along the payment pathway. The system will automatically recognize the shoppers and their items with the facial recognition and RFID technology – making the entire check-out process shorter than 15 seconds.”


What's New in Payments

UK supermarket pilots self-checkout service that lets shoppers scan and pay by smartphone

Sainsbury’s to launch app which helps customers avoid checkout queues — The Independent — “Sainsbury’s are currently testing the app at their London Euston station store meaning that shoppers can buy the £3 ‘On the Go’ meal deal by simply scanning the products and paying using their phone. As soon as payment is confirmed, customers are free to leave the store without the hassle of time-consuming queues.”


What's New in Payments

Convenience store Cheers opens first unmanned, cashless outlet

Convenience store Cheers opens first unmanned, cashless outlet — The Straits Times — “The Cheers outlet at Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) looks like its normal store — with shelves and fridges stocked with food and drinks — except there is no cashier or assistant in sight… Customers use a QR code found on the free ‘Shop It Yourself’ mobile app to gain entry to the store… The store also features a unified self-checkout system that accepts various cashless payment modes, eliminating the need for multiple payment terminals.”


What's New in Payments

Alibaba’s self-service Tao Cafe takes e-shopping offline

Alibaba’s self-service Tao Cafe takes e-shopping offline — Xinhua — “Entry into Tao Cafe in Hangzhou, capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province, is through ticket gates similar to those at subway stations, however, customers scan their smart phones instead of tickets… The 200-square-meter store offering beverages, fast food and snacks can accommodate 50 customers at a time. To enter and make a purchase, shoppers require only a smart phone with Alibaba’s Taobao ecommerce app.”



What's New in Payments

In China, Amazon’s ‘store of the future’ is already open

In China, Amazon’s ‘store of the future’ is already open — Tech In Asia — “This is a typical Bingobox store… A shopper opens the door – and registers with the startup – through WeChat, the popular messaging app… The customer has to scan each item’s barcode. And then pay on their phone, either via WeChat or Alibaba’s mobile wallet app, Alipay. As you leave the store, a camera checks you’re taking out only the stuff you paid for.”


What's New in Payments

Urban Airship analysis of retailers’ mobile wallet coupons and loyalty cards reveals widespread peer-to-peer sharing

Urban Airship analysis of retailers’ mobile wallet coupons and loyalty cards reveals widespread peer-to-peer sharing — Urban Airship — “Analysis of more than one million Apple Wallet coupons and loyalty cards of major retail brands shows that for every mobile wallet pass a customer installs, it is shared and added to 3.3 other mobile devices on average… More than three-quarters of retailers’ installed passes were the result of sharing versus being created and distributed through their marketing channels.”




What's New in Payments

Macey’s invites shoppers to skip checkout lines

Macey’s invites shoppers to skip checkout lines — Progressive Grocer — “After setting up a free account, Macey’s shoppers simply scan their items as they’re placed in the cart. Once they have everything they need, shoppers simply pay for the purchase directly from their phones using a linked debit or credit card, or the Apple Pay or Android Pay mobile wallet apps, and exit the store via the Skip Checkout lane.”



What's New in Payments

Starbucks to add gift cards to iMessage as Mobile Order & Pay grows

Users can send each other Starbucks gift cards in Apple's messaging app

Starbucks customers across the US will soon be able to purchase gift cards using Apple Pay and send them to friends and family within Apple’s iMessage platform. The move comes as the coffee giant reveals it now has approximately nine million mobile paying customers with one in three using Mobile Order & Pay, which accounted for 8% of all transactions made across US stores last month. More




What's New in Payments

McDonald’s to roll out mobile order and pay in 20,000 restaurants this year

McDonalds

McDonald’s will launch its mobile order and pay service in 20,000 restaurants in “some of our largest markets including the US” by the end of 2017, with the fast food giant aiming to enhance its digital capabilities and the use of technology to “dramatically elevate the customer experience” and “unlock meaningful growth and increase guest counts”... More