Google has introduced an open format for Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons that is designed to address the shortcomings of existing beacon services and is compatible with both Android and iOS devices. More
Mobile payment provider MyCheck has announced support for Apple Pay in the UK, enabling customers at participating restaurants to settle their bill using the mobile payments service... More
Ant Financial has released a new version of its Alipay app for iOS and Android, adding new Friends and Merchants tabs that provide support for peer-to-peer payments and for Koubei, the US$1bn mobile commerce joint venture between Ant Financial and Alibaba that was announced last month. More
Barclaycard has unveiled a second generation of its bPay wristbands and is to add contactless-enabled keyfobs and stickers to the range of bPay devices that will be made available for purchase on 1 July. More
Vehicles taking part in British motor sports event The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC) will send notifications about section times, racer profiles, course map details and videos to a visitor’s smartphone using beacons supplied by KS Technologies... More
Apple Pay will be available in the UK from July 2015, vice president of Apple Pay business Jennifer Bailey has announced at the iPhone maker’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Users of the mobile payments service will also be able to add store credit, debit and loyalty cards to their Apple mobile wallet from “this fall”. More
Visual discovery app Pinterest is to let its users make payments through Apple Pay on its platform by clicking on Buy buttons that will be integrated into a retailer’s page, including those from Macy’s, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom... More
Chase Bank has added Touch ID authentication to its Chase Mobile app for iOS to let users log in to the service using their fingerprint... More
Google has unveiled Project Brillo, a development platform for the Internet of Things that will connect devices through a communication layer called Weave which “provides seamless and secure communication between devices both locally and through the cloud,” Google explains... More
Google has confirmed it is developing a “brand new” Google Wallet app for Android and iOS that will allow anyone with a US debit card to send and receive money for free “within minutes”, even if the other person doesn’t have the app... More
Hotel chain Marriott Hotels has released version 4.6 of its iOS mobile app that introduces support for Apple Watch, enabling users to check in, receive room-ready alerts and check out from their wrist... More
The Apple Store app for iOS has been updated with two-step authentication, meaning users will now need to enter both a password and a verification code sent to a trusted device before they can complete a purchase... More
PayPal is letting its iOS mobile app users log in and access “virtually any part” of their PayPal wallet using Apple’s Touch ID... More
Online authentication provider Sekur.me has made it possible for merchants to accept Apple Pay for online payments for the first time, via a Universal Buy Button that works with a wide range of platforms and gateways, browsers and on both Android and iOS devices... More
Mobile proximity payments — those made by consumers at the physical point of sale using a mobile device — in the US will total US$54bn by 2019, Javelin Strategy and Research has projected... More
Digital banking solutions provider Digital Insight is to offer Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint verification in the iOS mobile banking applications it supplies to financial institutions later this year... More
British brewer Adnams is to roll out a mobile payments and rewards service in its 12 stores and 50 pubs across East Anglia and London this summer using a fee-free platform provided by UK startup Droplet. More
Wearable device maker Jawbone has unveiled a fitness tracking wristband that can be linked to the wearer’s American Express card account and used to make NFC payments... More
Facebook users in the US will soon be able to make and receive secure mobile payments for free via the social network’s Messenger app... More
Starbucks has updated its iOS app to add support for Apple Pay, making it possible for users to reload their Starbucks cards using Apple’s mobile payments service.“There has been no word on whether Starbucks plans to implement NFC and support for in-store use of Apple Pay,” MacRumors says... More