PARTNER NEWS: A presentation that sets out the potential of the Okey — a standalone, multifunction NFC keyfob that can store multiple contactless payment, transit, loyalty and identity cards — is now available to download from the NFC World Knowledge Centre... More
A new white paper that looks in-depth at Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) technology, the architecture and principles underpinning its operation and how it can be used to secure a variety of mobile wallet and IoT applications is now available to download free of charge from the NFC World Knowledge Centre... More
Barclays and PayPal announce industry leading partnership — Barclays — “Consumers are expected to benefit from a raft of new features that will make it even easier to manage their PayPal account in Barclays digital channels, and to use their Barclays products in their PayPal digital wallet… PayPal and Barclays will explore unique ways to connect Pingit and PayPal to improve how customers can move and manage their money. The partnership will also explore opportunities for US consumers to redeem Barclays reward points at businesses that accept PayPal worldwide.”
Japan airline ANA aims to build digital payments business — Financial Times — “The plan is part of a broader digital push by ANA, which hopes to build on data collected from the 31m users of its airline miles to provide a range of services including real estate, insurance and health to consumers across Japan… ‘We are aiming for ANA’s version of Alibaba’s Alipay,’ Shinya Katanozaka, ANA’s chief executive, said in an interview.”
Samsung Rewards now rolling out to Samsung Pay users in India — Financial Express — “Samsung India on Thursday rolled out Samsung Rewards for the users of its mobile payments service Samsung Pay in India where they can collect and redeem ‘points’ to purchase the company’s devices. The programme is already available for Samsung Pay users in other global markets, including South Korea, the US, China, Spain, Singapore, Australia, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Russia, Thailand and Malaysia.”
Carrefour steps up its digital transformation with the in-store roll-out of ‘Carrefour Pay’ — its mobile payment solution — Carrefour — “Carrefour Pay is quick and easy and has no payment limit — customers can use it to pay for their shopping at all terminals which have NFC contactless technology… It can be used in 3,000 Carrefour stores in France and in all stores which accept contactless payment. All bank cards will be added in 2018, as well as all Carrefour e-commerce sites in France. Carrefour Pay can be accessed via the Carrefour&Moi mobile app and also features a loyalty card and coupon facility.”
Macy’s to add mobile checkout to all stores by year’s end — CNBC — “The platform allows shoppers to scan barcodes on items (apparel, home goods, etc) with their phones, as they add merchandise to their baskets in stores. Relevant discounts and rewards will also be applied, via a shopper’s loyalty account, throughout. When customers are finished shopping, they will head to a special counter for mobile checkout, where an associate will remove security tags and make sure the number of items scanned adds up to those paid for. Then, they’re ready to go.”
Auchan launches mobile payment app In Italy — European Supermarket Magazine — “Through the use of the AuchanSpeedy app, customers can scan products in-store and pay for them on their phone. The service, available to the members of the retailer’s customer loyalty programme LaTua!, is in addition to the traditional and self-checkout systems, and aims to provide more payment solutions for shoppers.”
Rakuten will roll its $9bn loyalty program into a new blockchain-based cryptocurrency, Rakuten Coin — Techcrunch — “The company is planning a new cryptocurrency called Rakuten Coin — built on blockchain technology and the company’s existing loyalty program, Rakuten Super Points — which it plans to use to encourage loyalty services globally and to help customers to buy goods across different Rakuten services and markets… The news was announced by Rakuten’s CEO Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani on stage at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where he described Rakuten Coin as a ‘borderless’ currency.”
Allianz and Visa launch mobile payment and loyalty app — Allianz — “The mobile payment and loyalty app is the first of its kind in the insurance industry and enables customers to make fast, safe and easy payments with their mobile device online and in stores… Allianz Prime users also benefit from an attractive loyalty program, a smart spend tracker to simplify money management as well as Allianz Partners’ Digital Payments Protection… The Allianz Digital Payments Protection provides coverage against fraud, safeguards and supports customers in case of defective or damaged online purchases and provides financial compensation in case of a loss.”
KrisFlyer to launch world’s first blockchain-based airline loyalty digital wallet — Singapore Airlines — “The SIA Group’s KrisFlyer frequent-flyer programme is to launch a world-first blockchain-based airline loyalty digital wallet capability that will help unlock the value of KrisFlyer miles to enable everyday spending at retail partners… It will allow the extensive KrisFlyer membership base to use ‘digital KrisFlyer miles’ for point-of-sale transactions at participating retail merchants.”
G+D Mobile Security supports Rabobank in launching a sophisticated and secure mobile payment solution — Giesecke & Devrient — “With the new solution, more Rabobank customers can use the mobile payment service since it no longer requires a special kind of SIM card. Furthermore, mobile payment is only one of the services provided: current value-added services in the Rabo Wallet include parking and customer shop and loyalty card storage solutions.”
Metro plans to roll out new smartphone payment app later this year — Curbed — “The system is expected to be ready for testing this summer, with a full rollout planned for the fall, says Metro spokesperson Rick Jager… Promotions will be available for frequent riders. Jager says these might include incentives for users choosing to ride public transit on smoggy days or a system by which riders could earn points or ‘medallions’ when paying for trips.”
Cali Group demonstrates face based loyalty program pilot in its restaurant operating division — Cali Group — “The kiosks use NEC’s NeoFace facial recognition software to identify registered customers and pull up their loyalty accounts and order preferences… Also in 2018, the platform will be used to allow customers to pay using their faces.”
Samsung launches Samsung Rewards, a new loyalty program of Samsung Pay — Samsung Spain (translation) — “Users who make purchases with Samsung Pay will receive Samsung Rewards points each time they make a purchase. The accumulated points will be valid for one year and can be exchanged directly for exclusive gifts.”
NCR research highlights consumer desire for innovative banking services in the UK — NCR — “Nearly half of respondents (47%) with personal bank accounts would only feel comfortable with banks collecting the bare minimum of data required to run their accounts… 49% were interested in banking loyalty programs in partnership with retailers requiring third-party data sharing. 46% were open to financial advice services that keep track of their spending information to help save money.”
Starling and Yoyo Wallet: Enabling loyalty with open banking — Starling Bank — “With any other bank, in order to collect loyalty points you would have to manually pay using the Yoyo app using a QR code scanner. However we have created an experience together with Yoyo, using our APIs, which means you don’t need to use any separate apps to pay. You just need to securely connect your Yoyo account to your Starling account from the Yoyo app and allow Yoyo to view your Starling account transactions. You will then be able to collect loyalty points whenever you use your Starling card, Apple Pay or Fitbit Pay at a merchant partner.”
Samsung Rewards: Growing big in year one, with a preview of the year ahead — Samsung — “After a year of growing 25% month-over-month, millions of people are enrolled in and actively use Samsung Rewards. In the first week of November alone, we gained more than one million new users in the United States… We estimate that Rewards increased the use of Samsung Pay by 48%… We are also exploring adding innovative new features that our consumers will enjoy such as peer to peer points sharing and integration with partner loyalty programs.”
NFC World today welcomes Beijing-based Okey Co as a member of our partner program... More
Fashion brands looking to include payments capabilities in their wearable devices need solutions that are pre-certified, inexpensive, easy to implement and offer the wearer the ability to quickly and easily add their choice of payment, transit, loyalty and identity cards throughout the lifetime of their watch or fashion accessory, wearables platform provider Fidesmo explains in a new white paper which is now available to download free of charge from the NFC World Knowledge Centre... More