Kenya and Ghana have the highest rates of mobile payment use in the world after China and, ultimately, there could be as many as 850 million mobile payment users in Africa conducting transactions worth US$2.5tn to US$3tn a year, according to a report from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG)... More
Mobile payments
Transport for West Midlands unveils plans for regional smart ticketing system
Public transportation users in the West Midlands will be able to use a new ‘tap and cap’ smart ticketing platform to make contactless payments for their journeys across the UK region’s entire rail, bus and tram network by 2022, according to plans revealed by Transport for West Midlands (TfWM)... More
Pizzahacker rolls out QR self-serve ordering
Diners at the Pizzahacker restaurant in Mill Valley, California, can now use a self-serve feature to place their order on their mobile device by scanning a QR code and selecting what they want to eat and drink on the restaurant’s mobile-enabled ordering page... More
IDC: One in two wearables to include contactless payments support
Global shipments of wearable devices will reach a total of 396m units this year and increase to 637.1m in 2024, with the proportion of those offering support for contactless payments set to rise to nearly 50% by the end of the year, International Data Corp (IDC) predicts... More
PSCU reports 70% increase in US mobile debit card transactions
The weekly volume of mobile wallet debit card transactions in the USA has increased by 70.3% compared with this time last year, while weekly mobile wallet credit card transactions have grown by 50.4% over the same period, according to the PSCU’s latest Tracking Transaction Trends report... More
Google Pay adds bill splitting, movie bookings and scratchcard rewards in Singapore
Google Pay users in Singapore can now divide bill payments between groups of family and friends, book cinema tickets and receive rewards via virtual scratchcards... More
Moscow Metro adds support for Huawei Pay
Passengers on the Moscow Metro system can now use NFC-enabled Huawei and Honor smartphones to make contactless payments for their fares with Huawei Pay at every station on the Russian capital’s network, Tdaily.ru reports... More
Edenred adds Apple Pay for UK prepaid cardholders
Holders of Edenred prepaid incentive and rewards cards in the UK can now add their card to Apply Pay and make mobile and online payments for food, fuel, transport, parking and corporate transactions with their iPhone, Apple Watch or other Apple Pay-enabled device... More
NFC tag supplier ShopNFC opens NFCW Expo showcase
NFCW EXPO: ShopNFC, a supplier of NFC tags and accessories that offers fast, free delivery to businesses across the globe, has opened a booth in the NFCW Expo... More
Samsung lets German customers link any bank account to Samsung Pay
Samsung device owners in Germany can now link a personal account at “almost any” German bank to Samsung Pay and then use a virtual Visa debit card to make mobile payments in-store... More
One in five Japanese consumers to make mobile payments in stores this year
The number of people in Japan who use their smartphone to make mobile payments at the point of sale will reach 23.9 million — 21.5% of the population — by the end of this year, up from 19.1 million in 2019, according to an eMarketer forecast... More
Google Pay rolls out tokenized NFC card payments in India
Google Pay users in India can now make tokenized NFC-based credit and debit card payments at contactless POS terminals, starting with customers of Axis Bank and SBI “with Kotak and more banks expected to follow suit very soon”... More
Marshall University transitions to mobile-only NFC ID cards for staff and students
Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, USA, has responded to the Covid-19 pandemic by switching to a mobile-only ID system, removing the need to issue physical cards or for students to visit the campus ID office in person to register for a card and have their photograph taken... More
Antelop explains how it works as a trusted partner to banks looking to adopt the latest digital card technologies
MEET THE INNOVATORS: Antelop Solutions acts as a trusted partner to card issuers seeking to quickly and easily provide their customers with leading-edge mobile and digital card solutions, CEO Nicolas Bruley and chief commercial officer Timothée Grüner explain in a video interview with NFCW editor Sarah Clark... More
Apple lets kids use their Apple Watch to make payments with Apple Pay
Parents with an iPhone can now transfer funds to their children’s Apple Watch so they can then use it to make payments using Apple Pay... More
Juniper forecasts ‘permanent shift’ to contactless ticketing
Mobile ticketing transaction volumes, including contactless, in-app and mobile messaging ticket purchases, will increase from 6.8bn transactions in 2020 to 16.9bn in 2022, heralding a permanent shift towards contactless ticketing, according to a forecast by Juniper Research... More
UK charities leverage open banking to cut donation transaction costs
UK residents can now make charity donations using an open banking payments service that allows them to transfer money directly from their bank account to a charity’s bank account by scanning a QR code with their mobile phone, reducing the recipient’s processing costs and automatically enabling Gift Aid tax benefits on each donation... More
EU to report on its investigation into Apple Pay next week?
The European Union is to publish a report next week that will provide further information on the results of its investigation into Apple Pay and could lead to new legislation forcing Apple to provide more open access to the NFC chip in its devices, according to “documents obtained by Bloomberg”... More
Digital payments specialist Dejamobile opens showcase in the NFCW Expo
NFCW EXPO: France-based fintech Dejamobile has opened a showcase in the NFCW Expo that provides readers with information on its white label digital payment and merchant acceptance solutions plus educational materials on host card emulation (HCE) security and contactless acceptance on standard NFC phones... More
MTA completes Omny rollout in Manhattan
Transit passengers in New York can now pay for their tickets with their contactless card or mobile wallet at every subway station and on all buses in Manhattan using the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Omny contactless fare payment system... More