Customers of US drugstore giant Walgreens can now redeem paperless coupons for online and in-store purchases and “clip” offers on product pages and in search results through the Walgreens mobile app... More
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Android Pay launches in Singapore
Google has begun rolling out Android Pay across Singapore, marking the mobile payment service’s debut in Asia. It will work with MasterCard and Visa cards from DBS Bank, OCBC Bank, POSB Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and UOB. More
MintChip launches for in-store and P2P payments in Canada
Canadians can now use the MintChip virtual currency to send and receive money through a P2P mobile app and make payments at participating merchants in Toronto’s Liberty Village neighbourhood by scanning a barcode... More
MCX to end CurrentC pilot and disable all accounts
US retailer-led consortium MCX is concluding the pilot of its CurrentC mobile wallet at the end of June and will be disabling all user accounts. The company has “not yet determined the future timing of CurrentC”. More
Pizza Hut Asia trials order and pay using a robot called Pepper
Customers at Pizza Hut locations in Asia will soon be able to place orders, receive offers and complete payments on a tablet held by Pepper, a humanoid robot developed by SoftBank Robotics. The transactions will be completed through MasterCard’s MasterPass digital wallet service. More
Jones adds NFC and QR codes to smart packaging with Tuku
Pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods companies can now add NFC tags and QR codes to packaging in order to send out messages, promotions and offers to their customers’ smartphones using an integrated solution developed by packaging provider Jones Packaging and mobile marketing specialist Tuku. More
Samsung Pay adds membership and loyalty cards in the US
Samsung Pay users across the US can now add their merchant membership and loyalty cards to the mobile payment service and receive savings, rewards and other offers by having a card’s barcode scanned by the cashier at the point of sale. More
Android Pay launches in the UK
Google has launched its Android Pay mobile payment service across the UK, allowing consumers to make payments at any contactless terminal with a tap of their Android handset. The service launches with support from MasterCard, Visa and eight British banks, “with new banks being added all the time,” the company says. More
MCX delays launch of CurrentC and cuts 30 jobs
US retailer-led consortium MCX has postponed the nationwide rollout of its CurrentC mobile wallet and has laid off approximately 30 of its employees... More
Citibank customers in New York get ATM access via BLE beacons
Customers at Citibank’s smart banking branches in Manhattan, New York have been gaining cardless after-hours entry to ATM lobbies using their iPhone or Apple watch and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons installed by Gimbal... More
UK restaurants and bars roll out Z-Beacon technology
More than 1,000 restaurants, bars and pubs across the UK are deploying Z-Beacon, a new platform developed by QR code-based mobile payments provider Zapper... More
Verizon gives 2GB of free data to Android Pay users
Android Pay users across the US with a Verizon handset can get 2GB of free data when they make in-store purchases using the mobile payments service between now and mid-June. More
WeChat integrates with Givex to push in-store presence
Chinese ecommerce giant Tencent’s WeChat mobile payments and messaging app has been integrated with Givex’s Vexilor point-of-sale solution to enable users of the service to make in-store purchases by scanning a QR code. More
US brewery installs BLE beacons on beer taps
Drinkers of Schlafly Beer in St Louis, Missouri can now receive information about drink specials, tasting notes, new beer releases and customised campaigns on their smartphone via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons attached to the craft brewery’s beer taps. More
Alipay to expand to Europe this summer
Chinese mobile payments platform Alipay, which has 450 million active users, is to be made available in Europe this summer, enabling Chinese shoppers to make payments in stores, receive offers and view nearby shops and restaurants that accept the mobile payments service. More
SK Telecom launches hands free mobile payments and rewards
More than 100,000 customers of SK Telecom in Korea have subscribed to T Pay, a hands free mobile payment and rewards service based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology that launched earlier this month. More
Lufthansa uses Bluetooth beacons to promote upgrades to passengers
German airline Lufthansa is using Bluetooth beacons installed across Munich Airport to push special offers to passengers and enable them to use their mobile phone to book and buy access to its business lounge as well as purchase upgrades from economy class to business class. More
MobiKwik lets mobile wallet users find local merchants
Indian mobile wallet service MobiKwik has added a new feature to its app that lets users search for locations where the service can be used to make in-store payments... More
More than 100m people will make an NFC mobile payment in 2016
More than 100m people around the world will use an NFC handset to make a purchase this year, according to a new report from Strategy Analytics, and the value of transactions conducted via NFC handsets will grow from US$30bn in 2016 to US$240bn in 2021. More
CU Wallet offers Mogl cashbacks
The 120 credit unions using the CU Wallet platform to support their mobile payment services can now offer customers up to 30% cashback on purchases at “thousands of merchants” through rewards program provider Mogl... More
