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.”
NFC
Greater Anglia lets train passengers use NFC phones to top up travel cards
Dramatic increase in Smart Card use — Greater Anglia — “We’ve upgraded our Greater Anglia app so that if you have an Android phone, you can hold your Smart Card against it and it will automatically transfer the products you have bought from the website or app, onto your Smart Card… We’ve also enabled staff phones to be able to instantly check the validity of Smart Cards. So passengers can use their card with confidence, and at the same time the systems we have introduced will help to detect and prevent fraud.”
POS terminals that support 23 different QR, contactless and NFC payments services roll out in Singapore
Unified cashless payment system rolled out at 500 hawker stalls across Singapore — The Straits Times — “The solution, provided by Nets, unifies payments from 23 providers, so dining customers can use different cashless payment options at a single payment terminal at a food outlet. This also saves hawkers the hassle of dealing with multiple e-payment firms. These include e-wallets like Singtel Dash and GrabPay, transport cards EZ-Link and Nets FlashPay, and credit cards such as Visa and Mastercard.”
Paris begins contactless transit card rollout
The first of a new range of contactless transit cards and passes are now being made available in Paris, enabling bus, tram and metro users to begin replacing cardboard tickets with contactless alternatives... More
Eagle Creek lets luggage owners share their stories via NFC
Eagle Creek debuts NFC-connected luggage — Mobile Marketer — “Travellers can see a personalised dashboard that shows all the places they’ve travelled, along [with] a leaderboard that ranks their mileage against the other owners of its line of Caldera luggage. Eagle Creek also provides a lost-and-found feature to help people locate misplaced bags, warranty registration features and detailed product information and videos. Caldera owners also can share information about their trips with their friends, family and followers on major social media platforms.”
Apple Pay goes live in 13 new European countries
Apple Pay is now live in Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia... More
Public Transport Victoria reports strong takeup for Mobile Myki transit cards
Nearly 100,000 travellers in the Australian state of Victoria have used the Mobile Myki NFC-based mobile transit ticketing service since its launch in March with adoption set to accelerate further after the addition of support for the Apple iPhone, which is planned for 2019-20.... More
National Bank of Kuwait claims world first with contactless metal Visa credit card
The NBK Visa Infinite Privilege Credit Card will be offered exclusively to the bank’s private banking customers, and by invitation only, once regulatory approval for the product has been received... More
Phoenix Suns to provide basketball fans with mobile payments and NFC ticketing at Talking Stick Resort Arena
Arizona-based National Basketball Association (NBA) team the Phoenix Suns are to offer fans access to mobile payments and NFC ticketing from within their mobile app, via a partnership with Ticketmaster, that will see the team move to mobile-only ticketing at its Talking Stick Resort Arena from the start of the 2019/20 season in October... More
HonkMobile launches app-free Apple Pay NFC payments
Parking payments specialist HonkMobile has unveiled a ‘virtual parking meter’ that uses Apple Pay’s new support for NFC tags to let iPhone users tap an NFC sticker to quickly make a payment via Apple Pay — without first needing to download an app or register for a service... More
Xiaomi unveils low cost fitness tracker that supports NFC and QR payments
Chinese mobile device manufacturer Xiaomi has launched the Mi Band 4 NFC fitness tracker that supports contactless NFC payments and QR-based payments through AliPay and can be used as a key when combined with the company’s MI Smart Door Lock... More
Android Q to let users log into Wi-Fi networks via NFC, QR or Bluetooth LE
Android Q supports ‘Wi-Fi Easy Connect’ for NFC, Bluetooth, QR credential sharing — 9to5Google — “Android Q enables you to use Easy Connect to provision Wi-Fi credentials to a peer device… The calling app can retrieve the URI through various methods, including scanning a QR code from a sticker or display, or through scanning Bluetooth LE or NFC advertisements.”
Apple extends GymKit NFC functionality to additional gym equipment market leaders
Apple has added three US gym equipment manufacturers — Octane Fitness, True Fitness and Woodway — to its growing list of partners worldwide for NFC-based GymKit for the Apple Watch, which enables users to sync their workout data between their watch and fitness machines... More
NFC testing disruptor Cilab joins the NFC World Partner Program
PARTNER NEWS: Cilab’s ci230 high speed tester takes a whole new approach to NFC testing that makes it faster and easier to conduct pre-certification testing, makes the certification process quicker and cheaper, lets customers get a fast return on investment — and a competitive advantage from speeding up time to market... More
Japanese government to adopt iPhone NFC chip reading for citizen ID
iOS 13 NFC for Japanese Individual Number Cards — Ata Distance — “Individual Number Cards are supported by card readers that require a personal computer and additional software. NFC tag reading with a smartphone is much easier because it can work out of the box and an app. Android phones are supported but limited to select Aquos, Galaxy and Xperia smartphone models. iPhone NFC tag support in iOS 13 will considerably widen the user footprint.”
Imperial College develops NFC tag-based freshness detection system to reduce food waste
Researchers at Imperial College London have developed low-cost NFC-based spoilage sensors for meat and fish packaging that could be in supermarkets within three years and help to reduce the amount of still safe to eat food that UK consumers throw away each year because it has reached its sell-by date... More
Malibu rolls out NFC connected bottles in the US
Drinks brand Malibu is launching an NFC-based promotion in the US states of Ohio and Texas that enables customers to use NFC tags attached to 300,000 ‘connected bottles’ to win branded goods and access cocktail recipes and other content... More
EPC reports on QR and Bluetooth mobile payments in Europe
White Paper: Non-NFC based Mobile Sepa Card Proximity Payments — European Payments Council — “The document aims to create awareness amongst the payments industry about the development of non-NFC based MCPP [Mobile Sepa Card Proximity Payments] solutions and to provide a common understanding of the MCPP landscape. This final version also reflects the outcome of a three-month public consultation that ended in February 2019.”
Ice hockey fans to use NFC ticketing at NHL stadiums
NHL takes ticketless path with Ticketmaster extension — SportsPro — “Going forward, NHL tickets will include near field communication (NFC) technology that allows fans to ‘tap’ into a venue entrance, and aims to protect against digital tickets being copied and resold… The deal comes after the NHL, which introduced mobile ticketing during its Stadium Series in 2018, experienced an 85% and 88% growth in the number of fans using mobile tickets during its 2018 and 2019 All-Star games, respectively.”
Google Pay issues major update to its API for Passes
Google has announced a suite of upgrades for transportation operators, airlines and loyalty card issuers that extends the functionality of its Google Pay API for Passes — and revealed future plans to make Passes “available to your users on Google even if they haven’t installed the Google Pay app”... More
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