Aldi adds convenience with app-free entry to contactless store
Discount supermarket chain Aldi has introduced contactless payment at its checkout-free concept store in London... More
London
Gridserve opens contactless electric vehicle forecourt at Gatwick Airport
Sustainable energy provider Gridserve has opened an electric vehicle charging station at London’s Gatwick Airport that combines thirty vehicle charging bays with a convenience store that uses Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology and a Costa Coffee outlet that allows drivers to pre-order and pay for a coffee that can then be delivered to their charging bay... More
National Rail prepares to roll out pay-as-you-go contactless ticketing for London commuters
UK transport provider National Rail has adjusted ticketing prices for commuter journeys into and out of London as a step towards rolling out pay-as-you-go contactless fare payments at more than 50 stations across the south-east of England... More
Finland tests digital passports for contactless cross-border travel to and from the UK
Citizens of Finland travelling on Finnair flights to and from London, Manchester and Edinburgh in the UK can now verify their identity at border control in Helsinki Airport using a digital passport stored on their Apple or Android smartphone... More
Eurostar goes live with biometric ticketing at London’s St Pancras station
Business Premier and Carte Blanche ticket holders travelling on Eurostar rail services from London’s St Pancras International station to continental Europe can now pass through UK passport checks and board the train using face verification alone... More
Landmark London building rolls out support for employee IDs in Apple Wallet for contactless entry
Apple users working in landmark City of London skyscraper 22 Bishopsgate can now gain access to the building, their workplace and shared amenities with a tap of their iPhone or Apple Watch using a digital employee badge stored in Wallet... More
NatWest trials reverse vending machine that lets consumers recycle unwanted payment cards
UK bank NatWest is trialling a ‘reverse vending machine’ that enables consumers to securely recycle unwanted plastic payment, gift and loyalty cards as well as card readers and plastic bottles at locations across London... More
Seven in ten pay-as-you-go bus fare payments in London are now contactless
Some 1.7m fare payments for journeys on London buses are now made using a contactless payment card or mobile device every day, about 70% of all payments for pay-as-you-go bus fares in the UK capital, up from 33,000 a day in 2013 and 900,000 a day in 2017, Transport for London (TfL) reports... More
British Airways trials contactless biometric boarding at London’s Heathrow Airport
Passengers on British Airways (BA) flights from London Heathrow’s Terminal 5 to Malaga in Spain will be the first to trial a contactless biometric check-in and boarding system that will enable them to travel through the airport and board an international flight without needing to show their passport... More
Transport for London sets out plans for next generation transport ticketing solution
Transport for London (TfL) is planning to integrate its Oyster closed-loop transit card into an account-based ticketing system for contactless fare payments as part of a network-wide scheme to upgrade its revenue collection system, according to a call for competition issued by the transit agency’s trading arm, Transport Trading Ltd... More
Tesco introduces hybrid stores that combine contactless shopping with traditional checkouts
UK supermarket chain Tesco is to open three hybrid stores that give customers the option of choosing a checkout-free, automated shopping experience, an unattended self-checkout station or a conventional, manned checkout... More
Apple integrates transit cards with Maps in iOS 16
Apple iPhone users can now check public transport fares and add transit cards to Wallet as well as check and replenish an existing card balance directly from Maps... More
Tortoise to roll out robotic mobile smart stores in the US and UK
Consumers in New York, Chicago, Denver and other US cities as well as in London in the UK will soon be able to purchase items from remotely controlled robotic mobile vending machines with a tap of their contactless payment card or mobile wallet... More
Eurostar begins biometric ticketing pilot
Passengers travelling on Eurostar rail services from London’s St Pancras International station to continental Europe will be able to complete pre-departure ticket and passport checks before they arrive at the terminus via biometric face recognition technology, enabling them to board the train using face verification alone... More
Tesco opens its first checkout-free store in London
UK supermarket chain Tesco has opened its first checkout-free store in central London, enabling customers to check in at the store entrance with a smartphone app, select the products they want and leave without needing to scan their purchases or pay for them at the checkout... More
Oyster card users get weekly fare capping on London’s Tube and rail network
Transport for London (TfL) is rolling out automatic weekly fare capping on the UK capital’s Tube and rail network, ensuring that passengers using its Oyster transit card on a pay-as-you-go basis are charged “the best possible fares for all their journeys made between Monday and Sunday”... More
Aldi tests checkout-free technology at London store
Supermarket chain Aldi is trialling its first checkout-free store in London using technology that will enable customers to gain access to the store by scanning a smartphone app, select the products they want to purchase and then leave without needing to pay at a till... More
Stats show regional variations in UK adoption of contactless and mobile payments during pandemic
The number of payments made using Apple Pay and Google Pay increased by nearly 650% and the number of PIN-free contactless card transactions grew by more than 10% in certain regions of the UK, according to figures published by merchant payments provider Dojo... More
Amazon opens its first cashierless store outside US in London
Amazon has opened its first cashierless grocery store outside the US on London’s Ealing Broadway, enabling consumers to access the store and pay for their purchases by downloading a QR code to their mobile device and scanning it at the shop entrance... More
Survey reports on consumer attitudes to using mobile apps for transit ticketing
Nearly one in two Americans (46%) are most likely or definitely interested in mobile payment options for public transit ticketing “for a safer mass transit journey”, a survey of consumers in 28 countries around the world has found... More