The total number of personal and corporate digital yuan wallets issued in China has risen from 24.5m in July to 140m as of October, an increase of nearly 600%, the People’s Bank of China’s Mu Changchun has revealed... More
Mobile payments
Metro passengers get open loop contactless ticketing and fare capping in Sofia
Public transport users in Sofia can now make contactless fare payments across the Bulgarian capital’s metro system by tapping their contactless credit or debit card or NFC mobile wallet on a reader installed on station turnstiles... More
Digital wallet transaction volumes to top US$10tn globally by 2025
The global transaction volume of in-store and ecommerce digital wallet payments will exceed US$10tn by 2025, according to a forecast commissioned by Discover Global Network... More
German savings banks add buy now pay later service to mobile payments app
German savings banks in the Sparkasse group have launched a buy now pay later service in their mobile payments app, enabling customers to request a loan to pay for goods at the point of sale via their Android smartphone and arrange to repay it in instalments... More
Jakarta transport networks trial transit card and mobile app for multimodal contactless ticketing
Passengers using public transport services in the greater Jakarta metropolitan area of Indonesia can now sign up to trial a transit card and a smartphone app that enable them to make contactless fare payments on bus and rail services in the region... More
Delhi Metro begins rolling out upgraded mobile and contactless ticketing system
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has begun installing its upgraded contactless fare collection system that will enable passengers to pay for their journeys via NFC mobile ticketing, QR code mobile or paper ticketing, an EMV bank card or RuPay-enabled National Common Mobility Card (NCMC)... 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
Circle K adds checkout-free shopping at US convenience stores
US convenience store giant Circle K has installed cashierless shopping technology in one of its outlets in the US, enabling customers to walk in, select the products they wish to purchase and pay for them via the retailer’s app without needing to use a checkout... More
Apple Pay goes live in Bahrain
Apple Pay has rolled out in Bahrain with support for Mastercard and Visa cards issued by the National Bank of Bahrain (NBB), Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) and ila digital bank... More
Three in four UK consumers want to set their own contactless spending limit
Nearly three-quarters of UK consumers (73.1%) want the option to set their own contactless spending limit rather than it being set automatically when the country increases that limit to £100 (US$136) in October, according to a survey by KIS Finance... More
EU to file antitrust charge against Apple over NFC chip access
The European Commission is preparing to file an antitrust charge against Apple over the company’s limitation of access to its NFC chip technology, “people familiar with the matter” have told Reuters... More
Apple Pay to go live in Chile?
Apple Pay is preparing to roll out in Chile, the payment service’s Chilean support page reveals. Apple Pay published the page in Spanish last week, instructing users how to make payments in stores, within apps and on websites More
Researchers alert Apple and Visa to contactless payment vulnerability
A vulnerability in the way that Visa cards work with Apple Pay Express Transit mode “could enable hackers to bypass an iPhone’s Apple Pay lock screen and perform contactless payments”, researchers at the University of Birmingham and the University of Surrey have found... More
Market Pay acquires Dejamobile
PARTNER NEWS: Dejamobile has been acquired by Market Pay, the France-based international payments platform founded by supermarket giant Carrefour... More
Lloyds to let customers set own contactless transaction limit
Customers of Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland will be able to set their own contactless spending limit when the UK increases its national transaction limit to £100 (US$137) on 15 October... More
Monzo lets customers link virtual debit cards to funds ring fenced for specific types of expenditure
Customers of UK neobank Monzo can now create virtual debit cards for specific kinds of expenditure that are linked directly to funds they have set aside for that purpose rather than to their main bank account... More
CBA: 80% of digital wallet payments in Australia made from Apple devices
Eight in ten (80%) in-person contactless payments made from digital wallets using Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) debit and credit cards are made by tapping an Apple device, the bank has told a government inquiry into mobile payments and digital financial services... More
Apple adds rotating security codes for Apple Card in iOS 15
Apple Card holders can now opt to secure their card with a rotating three-digit security code that changes periodically by enabling an advanced fraud protection feature integrated in the iOS 15 update on their iPhone or iPad... More
Entrust acquires Antelop Solutions
PARTNER NEWS: Entrust, the world leader in secure payment card issuance, has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Antelop Solutions... More
Two in three consumers worldwide say Covid-19 has permanently changed the way they pay
Just over two-thirds of consumers globally (67%) now expect bricks-and-mortar retail stores to accept contactless payments and just under half (44%) wouldn’t shop at a store that only offers payment methods that require contact with a cashier or shared device, a survey of merchants and consumers in nine countries around the world has found... More