The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has officially launched six first-round pilots of a digital Hong Kong dollar or e-HKD with support from 16 banks, payments and technology firms to test the prototype central bank digital currency (CBDC) across a range of use cases including in-store, online and offline payments... More
The Bank of Korea (BOK) and Samsung are to test using NFC to make offline central bank digital currency (CBDC) transactions with Galaxy smartphones and smart watches without needing an internet connection... More
The Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) is to begin piloting the use of its proposed central bank digital currency (CBDC) across a range of transactions including in-store and offline NFC payments... More
The digital euro should be distributed via apps, digital and physical cards and other form factors that enable consumers to make both NFC and QR code in-store payments with the proposed central bank digital currency (CBDC), according to a European Central Bank (ECB) report... More
The number of new Hyundai Card users in South Korea rose by 75% from 116,000 in February to 203,000 in March following the launch of Apple Pay in the country on 21 March... More
The Australia and New Zealand Bank (ANZ) is to pilot the use of a prototype central bank digital currency (CBDC) for offline transactions using pre-loaded contactless cards at RMIT University in the Australian city of Melbourne and Southern Cross University in New South Wales... More
Developing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) system that supports offline transactions on smartphones or standalone custom devices will offer users benefits including enhanced resilience, accessibility, inclusivity and privacy, especially in remote areas without a reliable or affordable internet connection, according to the Bank of Canada... More
The European Central Bank (ECB) has laid out plans for a staggered rollout of a digital euro that would begin with the bank initially releasing the central bank digital currency (CBDC) for use in person-to-person and ecommerce transactions... More
KNOWLEDGE CENTRE: A new white paper from the NFC Forum that explains how NFC technology can be used to facilitate the implementation of mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) solutions by enabling appropriate levels of authentication across a range of use cases is now available to download from the NFCW Knowledge Centre... More
Samsung and Naver have formed a strategic partnership designed to maintain the two companies’ mobile payments market leadership in South Korea ahead of Apple’s expected launch of Apple Pay in the country in the coming months... More
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has added a function to its digital yuan payment app that allows users to continue to make offline payments using the central bank digital currency (CBDC) from their Android NFC smartphone even if their device has no power... More
The Bank of Ghana (BOG) is to pilot a two-tier token-based retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) that can be used with either a digital wallet app managed by a financial institution or a physical hardware wallet such as a contactless smart card that can be used offline and by unbanked consumers... More
