Adidas celebrates Atlanta and the 2018 Major League Soccer All-Star Game presented by Target with speciality Speedfactory AM4MLS lifestyle shoe — Adidas — “The AM4MLS shoe will be the first of its kind to bring the sound of the city to life through an embedded NFC chip enabling the owner to access a Spotify playlist curated by Rich The Kid. Deeply rooted in Atlanta’s culture, the 21 songs aim to pay tribute to the city’s rich music history and its influence in artists across the country.”
NFC
Chase lets customers use mobile wallets to withdraw cash at ATMs across the US
Chase expands cardless access to 15,000 ATMs nationwide — Chase — “Chase today announced that customers can now get cash through their phone’s mobile wallet at nearly all of its 16,000 ATMs nationwide, as well as access to all ATM vestibules outside of the branch… Customers no longer need a physical debit card or access code for authentication and can simply ‘tap’ their smartphone on the ATM to easily and securely access money on the go.”
NFC workforce and asset management platform provider Ginstr joins the NFC World Partner Program
PARTNER PROFILE: Ginstr’s SaaS platform provides companies looking to efficiently manage their field staff or their assets with a quick and simple to deploy cloud-based solution that comes with over 80 pre-developed applications and can be fully branded and tailored to meet each customer’s specific needs... More
German savings banks roll out NFC mobile payments to 45m debit card holders
Sparkassen launches mobile payments via smartphone — Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband (translation) — “We have 45m girocards in circulation — and all of them can be used for mobile payments. This makes us a pioneer in Germany in terms of availability and distribution of a mobile payment solution,” says Helmut Schleweis, president of the German Savings Banks and Giro Association (DSGV). In Germany, around 75% of the card terminals are equipped with the corresponding interface for contactless payment, with millions of terminals available worldwide.”
OEM Pays forecast to dominate mobile contactless payments market for next five years
Contactless payments to represent 1 in 3 in-store transactions globally by 2020 — Juniper Research — “Juniper forecasts that OEM Pay wallets will enable over $300 billion in transactions by 2020, representing 15% of the total contactless in-store transactions… OEM Pay wallet users will reach 450 million by 2020, with Apple accounting for one in two OEM Pay users globally… ‘We believe that growth over the next five years will continue to be dominated by offerings from the major OEM players.'”
Chase Pay links up with Samsung Pay to let cardholders pay with NFC and MST
Chase Pay and Samsung Pay join forces — Samsung — “Chase Pay customers with compatible flagship Samsung Galaxy smartphones now have the option to link Chase Pay to Samsung Pay. This means that customers will now be able to use Samsung Pay’s Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology, along with NFC, to pay with the Chase Pay app at millions of merchants in the United States by simply tapping the payment terminal.”
Garmin Pay expands to three new smartwatches
Garmin introduces the D2 Delta, the latest generation in aviator watches — Garmin — “All D2 Delta watches come with wireless connectivity with select Garmin avionics, Garmin Pay contactless payment solution, storage for music playlists and more.”
Manhattan skyscraper secures fire safety system with tamper-evident NFC tags
PARTNER NEWS: Two thousand HID Trusted Tags have been installed in “one of Manhattan’s most iconic skyscrapers” to improve the security and management of the building’s fire and safety sprinkler system... More
NFC mobile payments roll out in Saudi Arabia
Visa and Saudi Mada partner to launch new mobile-based application, Mada Pay — Zawya — “Mada Pay is an Android-based mobile application that enables cardholders to make fast, easy and secure contactless mobile payments at NFC-enabled merchants throughout Saudi and abroad with KSA [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia]-issued Visa cards (credit and prepaid). Visa and Mada co-badged (debit and prepaid) cards can also be used with Mada Pay.”
VTB switches on Huawei Pay at retail outlets across Russia
VTB begins accepting Huawei Pay in its network of POS terminals — VTB Bank (translation) — “To start using the service, the customer must be the owner of a China UnionPay card and a Huawei or Honor mobile phone that supports contactless payment technology… VTB’s POS terminal network has more than 180,000 devices. Contactless cards and mobile payment services are accepted by the absolute majority of terminals.”
Malibu adds NFC tags to 300,000 bottles for ‘Because Summer’ campaign
Coconut rum drinks brand Malibu is building on the lessons learned from a 2016 NFC pilot to let customers in the UK and Germany use NFC tags attached to 300,000 bottles to take part in a Malibu Games ‘Because Summer’ experience that lets them win prizes and share ‘summer moments’... More
Reader offer: Get a free ‘POS terminal in a box’ dev kit from STMicroelectronics
PARTNER NEWS: STMicroelectronics has 10 developer kits for its new contactless payments ‘in a box’ reference design available for NFC World readers to request free of charge... More
NXP supplies contactless and NFC chips for World Cup tickets and match balls
PARTNER NEWS: The contactless chips embedded in 2018 Fifa World Cup tickets and the NFC chips in the competition’s Adidas Telstar 18 official match balls have both been supplied by NXP, the chip maker has revealed... More
Apple Pay to launch in Austria?
Apple Pay prepares to go live in Austria — Der Standard (translation) — “Apple Pay is expected to launch in Austria in the coming months, two sources have told Der Standard… Our request for confirmation was referred to Payment Service Austria (PSA), which is conducting the negotiations with Apple for all the Austrian banks… PSA confirmed to Der Standard that they are in negotiation with Apple, but currently cannot say whether and when Apple Pay will go live in Austria.”
Alibaba invests in NFC product authentication for brands
E-commerce giant Alibaba has invested in NFC and RFID specialist Smartrac Technology Group and taken a seat on the company’s board... More
Eight in ten POS terminals to support NFC payments by 2022
Shipments of NFC-ready POS terminals reached 24.7m in 2017 — Berg Insight — “The attach rate for NFC was highest in EU28+2 and North America, where 90% and 88% respectively of the POS terminals shipped [in 2017] featured NFC. NFC was also a very popular feature in many other major markets worldwide, including Brazil, Turkey and China… More than 78% of the world’s POS terminals will be NFC-ready in 2022, up from 50% in 2017.”
300 German savings banks to roll out their own NFC mobile payments app at the end of July
Mobile payment: Sparkassen app to be available at the end of July — Heise Online (translation) — “A beta version is currently available in the Android Play Store. However, this only works with the accounts of selected savings banks whose employees and customers are putting the system through its paces. At the launch date at the end of July, around 300 savings banks will be there, a spokesman for the savings bank subsidiary S-Payment told Heise Online… Because the savings banks are following their own plans for mobile payment, their customers can not use their credit cards with Google Pay.”
Piraeus Bank picks Antelop as its mobile payments provider
PARTNER NEWS: Piraeus Bank, the largest card issuer in Greece, has selected Antelop Solutions as its long-term e-wallet and digital payments partner, enabling the bank to provide its customers with a large range of cutting edge mobile wallet and payments capabilities... More
Mobvoi includes ST NFC technology in TicWatch Pro
STMicroelectronics’ secure NFC technology enhances contactless user experience in Mobvoi’s TicWatch Pro — STMicroelectronics — PARTNER NEWS — “Prioritizing enhanced user experience and convenience, Mobvoi integrated ST’s NFC controller (ST21NFCD) in TicWatch Pro for its unique technology that boosts RF performance without penalizing battery performance and integrated features that minimize circuit size to reduce bill-of-materials costs.”
Adidas includes NFC chip in official match ball for knockout stage of 2018 Fifa World Cup
Adidas Football reveals official match ball for the knockout stage of the 2018 Fifa World Cup Russia — Fifa — “The Telstar 18 and Telstar Mechta feature an embedded NFC chip… The chip enables consumers to interact with the ball using a smartphone. Upon interaction, each ball generates a unique identifier, unlocking exclusive content and information for the user. The personalised and location-aware experience displays specific details of each ball and provides access to challenges.”