China remains the country with by far the highest mobile payments adoption rate, with 81.1% of smartphone owners making use of the technology, eMarketer reports... More
eMarketer identifies top countries for mobile payments adoption
NFC Mobile Payments
Apple Pay takes top slot as most popular mobile payments app in the US
Three in ten US smartphone owners now use a mobile payments app to make payments in stores — and Apple Pay is now the most popular with 30.3 million users, according to new research by eMarketer... More
Google expands support for transit cards on NFC mobile phones
A new deal between Google and Cubic Transportation Systems is set to make it possible for public transport users in a number of major cities around the world to use Google Pay to add their transit card to their NFC mobile phone... More
Japanese merchants report sharp increase in mobile transactions
The introduction of the Japanese government’s Cashless Japan initiative, which provides consumers with cashback incentives when they use a card or mobile phone to make a purchase, has led to a significant upswing in mobile payments adoption, according to reports from a number of merchants and mobile payments providers... More
McKinsey includes NFC tags in Mall of America technology showcase store
A new store in the largest shopping and entertainment complex in North America has opened as a testbed for the latest retail technologies — and products on sale have been equipped with NFC tags... More
Banco Proamerica lets merchants accept contactless payments on NFC phones
Banco Proamerica de Costa Rica has become the first bank in Latin America to let merchants accept contactless payments directly on an Android NFC smartphone, without the need for a separate card acceptance dongle... More
Transport for NSW completes rollout of open loop contactless ticketing
Public transportation users in Sydney, Australia, are now able to use contactless bank cards, NFC phones or wearable devices to pay for travel across the entire Transport for New South Wales network, including bus services... More
Sub-prime borrowers to boost US Apple Pay adoption?
Apple has instructed its Apple Card issuing partner Goldman Sachs “to approve as many of its 100 million-plus iPhone users in the US as possible” for its new credit card “within the bounds of regulations and responsible lending,” CNBC reports... More
PCI SSC calls for comments on new standard for contactless payments on off-the-shelf NFC devices
Request for comments: Contactless payments on COTS standard — PCI Security Standards Council — “PCI SSC is developing a new standard for contactless payments on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) devices, which is planned for publication by the end of 2019. As part of the development process, PCI SSC stakeholders are invited to review and provide feedback on the draft PCI Contactless Payments on COTS (CPoC) Standard during a 30-day request for comments (RFC) period.”
ING lets Turkish businesses accept Mastercard payments on NFC mobile phones
Turning smartphones into mobile points of sale — ING — “Turkish small business owners can now use their smartphones to securely accept payments from customers following a pilot by ING and Mastercard. The ‘Tap on Phone’ application allows business owners to use their Android smartphone, tablet or other smart devices as mobile points of sale (POS), replacing the traditional cash register or electronic POS terminal… Any Android-based smartphone or tablet can be transformed into a mobile POS with the ‘Tap on Phone’ app and an activated near-field communication.”
Huawei expands NFC mobile payments to Hong Kong
Huawei rolling out new products to enhance user stickiness — Hong Kong Economic Journal — “Huawei Pay, which was launched in Hong Kong on Monday, allows users to settle bills in more than 40,000 retail spots accepting the UnionPay contactless card payment… Earlier this year, Huawei Pay was launched outside China for the first time. In Russia, 66 banks are now supporting the technology. Both Huawei and Honor smartphones will carry the new service, which is compatible with 20 mobile devices, including several smartwatches.”
Maybank lets merchants accept contactless payments on their NFC phones
Maybank aims 10,000 device acceptance for Tap2Phone — The Star Online — “The payment solution enables small businesses to accept card payments from customers via the app on their mobile phones, without the need for a point-of-sale terminal… The Tap2Phone service accepts all contactless payments for transactions of RM250 [US$60.42] and below… Tap2Phone is supported by the latest Android-based smartphones equipped with near-field communication and trusted execution environment technologies.”
Russia’s Mir domestic payments system adds support for NFC payments
National Payment Card System (NSPK), operator of Russia’s Mir domestic payments network, has begun rolling out support for Android NFC mobile payments... More
Indosat Ooredoo to launch NFC payments in Indonesia
Telecoms provider Indosat Ooredoo is to launch an NFC-based mobile payment service in Indonesia next month, Detik iNet reports... More
Huawei teams up with China UnionPay to roll out NFC mobile payments
Handset maker Huawei has partnered with bank card association China UnionPay for the roll out of Huawei Pay, an NFC-based mobile payment service that makes use of tokenization technology and is expected to be available on a wide range of Huawei handsets. More
Proxama joins the NFC World partner program
NFC World is pleased to welcome NFC and mobile payments pioneer Proxama as a member of its partner program... More
Optus expands NFC payments to prepaid customers
Australian carrier Optus has made its NFC mobile payment service available to prepaid customers, following its launch to postpaid customers in November 2014... More
Samsung to use NXP SE for Chinese devices
Samsung will build NXP’s SmartMX P61N1M3 embedded secure element into versions of its Galaxy S6 destined for China, where it will be used in the Samsung Pay NFC mobile payments service... More
Optus launches NFC payments in Australia
Australian carrier Optus has teamed up with Visa and Heritage Bank to launch an NFC mobile payment service that lets customers load up to A$500 into a prepaid account and then make payments at any Visa contactless POS terminal... More
Desjardins launches NFC payments in Canada
An NFC mobile payments service is now available to customers of Quebec-based financial institution Desjardins Group... More