Customers of Singapore’s OCBC Bank can now send up to S$100 a day to any of their Facebook friends from their phone, using a new Pay Anyone feature in the bank’s mobile app... More
Mobile banking
Australian bank tests beacons in branches
St George Bank is testing the use of Bluetooth LE technology to send a welcome message and personalised information directly to a customer’s iPhone when they enter a branch... More
Square exits mobile wallet business
US mobile payments provider Square is pulling out of the consumer mobile wallet business and its Square Wallet app is no longer available to new customers to download... More
FIS offers instant EMV cards
Banking and payments technology provider FIS has launched a cloud-based service that lets banks instantly issue EMV ‘chip and pin’ or magnetic stripe cards to customers in their branches... More
OTP Bank launches mobile payments in Hungary
Hungary’s OTP Bank has launched a mobile wallet that allows consumers to pay in stores by scanning a QR code placed next to the cash register... More
Huntington offers instant balances
Huntington National Bank has updated its mobile app to allow customers to check their account balances without having to enter a username or password... More
CaixaBank integrates bank accounts with Facebook
Spain’s CaixaBank has become the first bank in Europe to launch a Facebook application that allows users to view their bank accounts and perform transactions via the social network... More
Bank develops NFC suit that lets customers pay by swiping a sleeve
Australia’s Heritage Bank has unveiled prototypes of a suit that comes with an embedded NFC chip and antenna to allow its wearer to make NFC payments at contactless POS terminals by simply swiping their sleeve... More
Rogers expands Suretap NFC wallet with support for prepaid and gift cards
Canadian carrier Rogers Communications has added support for multiple card types to its Suretap wallet service... More
2014 “will be the year of NFC” says new AFSCM president
Three French banks will launch national NFC services in partnership with carriers this year, the new president of the association responsible for bringing NFC to market in France has told NFC World — but transforming consumers into active and frequent users will be critical to success. More
Five UK banks to launch Zapp NFC and QR payments
The UK’s HSBC, First Direct, Nationwide, Santander and Metro Bank are to provide their 18 million UK customers with the ability to make NFC and QR code payments from next year, using an online and in-store mobile payments service that integrates with the banks’ existing mobile apps. More
Westpac to launch embedded NFC payments in New Year
Australia’s Westpac bank is to introduce NFC payments from the beginning of 2014, using the secure elements embedded in some Android mobile phones... More
EZ-Link app lets transit users top up cards via NFC
Singapore transit and small value payments card issuer EZ-Link has launched My EZ-Link Mobile, an Android app that enables consumers to add value to their contactless card by tapping it to their NFC phone... More
One in three smartphones now comes with NFC
The number of NFC phones shipped will increase 156% in 2013 to a total of 400m devices globally, according to a new report from Strategy Analytics... More
Novay releases NFC passport verification app
Dutch research institute Novay has developed an Android app that could make expensive NFC reader equipment redundant when verifying passports... More
Gartner cuts NFC mobile payments forecast by 40%
Worldwide mobile payment transaction values will reach US$235.4bn in 2013, a 44% increase on 2012’s $163.1bn, according to a new forecast from Gartner — but NFC transactions will account for a smaller than expected proportion of that total and the overall market value has also been reduced... More
RBC and Bell to launch NFC payments in Canada
Canadian bank RBC and mobile network operator Bell have announced plans to jointly introduce an NFC payments service... More
DBS expands One.Tap NFC payments to all Singapore carriers
DBS has become the first bank to offer a virtual credit card to customers of all three mobile network operators in Singapore... More
Interac debuts NFC debit card payments in Canada
RBC Royal Bank and Scotiabank both plan to make the new mobile payments service available to their customers later this year — and RBC has announced it will now make all Interac Flash contactless payments available free of charge to its account holders. More
Korean banks launch NFC payments service
Sixteen Korean banks have introduced BankWallet, a prepaid NFC payments service that uses a platform developed by interbank clearing house KFTC. SK Telecom subscribers with an NFC phone will be the first to be able to use the new service and KT customers will be added soon. More