NFC World

Mercer University reports on iPhone NFC ID adoption

Mobile student ID coming soon to Android devices — The Cluster — “Eight months after the launch of a mobile Bear Card for Apple devices, associate vice president for auxiliary services Ken Boyer said the digital credential will become available for Android devices in the second quarter of 2020… Boyer said 3,198 students, faculty and staff have enabled the digital ID since. The Office of Auxiliary Services anticipates that 2,500 more users will sign up once the Android option is available.”


NFC World

Apple to launch Ultra Wideband item tracking tags?

Kuo: Apple to launch AirTags, small charging mat, new iPads and Macs, high-end headphones, and more in first half of 2020 — MacRumors — “Last year, MacRumors uncovered evidence of Apple working on Tile-like item tracking tags in iOS 13 code, including a potential ‘AirTags’ name. As with iPhone 11 models, Kuo believes the tags will support Ultra Wideband, which would likely make it possible to locate the tags with much greater accuracy than Bluetooth LE and WiFi.”


What's New in Payments

Google to sunset Payment Request API

Rethinking Payment Request for iOS Chrome — Google — “The best way to enable more seamless and secure payments on the web is to enable an interoperable ecosystem, where digital wallets can bring their best experience to the web. This means shifting focus to the Payment Handler API, which is an emerging W3C standard that allows third party payment handlers, which can be either native mobile apps or progressive web apps, to integrate with the browser to handle Payment Requests… This shift in focus means that we will eventually sunset Chrome’s built-in ‘basic-card’ payment handler.”




Transit Ticketing Today

NFC ticketing to go live on Washington DC trains and buses in 2020

Starting some time next year, you can tap into Metro with an IPhone — DCist — “The service will be available on Apple products first, but a Google spokesperson confirms that the company is also working with Metro to launch a mobile card for Android users in 2020… Once Apple turns on the service, it will be available to use at every station, on every bus, and in every parking garage on the system — anywhere SmarTrip can be used.”










What's New in Payments

Telekom Slovenije launches mobile wallet that supports NFC, QR, P2P, bill splitting and transit ticketing payments

Telekom Slovenije launches the Valu smart wallet — Telekom Slovenije — “​Valu smart wallet is available in Slovenia as a mobile app from 13 June, and combines in one place mobile payment services, transfer of funds between users, splitting the bill, as well as identification and use of local infrastructure services, such as purchasing Slovenian Railways train tickets… Valu also supports payments with a QR code (on Android and iOS devices) or NFC technology (Android devices).”