Japan-based payments network JCB is to pilot a system that enables users to transfer central bank digital currency (CBDC) from a physical contactless card or their NFC smartphone to another person’s card or mobile device without needing an internet connection... More
An average of around one in five Europeans would use the digital euro “several times a week” if the proposed central bank digital currency is introduced (15-21%) and just over one in four expect it to be used as a supplement to existing payment methods (26%), according to a BearingPoint survey... More
The Australia and New Zealand Bank (ANZ) has completed an eight-week pilot programme with Southern Cross University in New South Wales that has shown how organisations such as universities could provide immediate financial support using a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in emergency situations when ATMs and other payments technologies are unusable... More
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has unveiled a suite of United Payments Interface (UPI) services that includes UPI Tap & Pay NFC-enabled QR codes, QR code-enabled ATM withdrawals, the addition of support for offline NFC payments to the UPI Lite X digital wallet, and Hello... More
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is to add support for NFC payments to the country’s UPI Lite digital wallet, enabling users to conduct transactions on their smartphone even when there is no internet or mobile connection... More
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is enabling consumers and merchants to use their smartphone to make and receive contactless in-store and P2P payments with the country’s eNaira central bank digital currency (CBDC) using NFC, even if they are offline, according to local media reports... More
“We believe that the digital euro is the natural and digital evolution of our currency,” Evelien Witlox, the programme director in charge of the European Central Bank’s digital euro project, reports in a presentation for NFCW’s Contactless World Congress online event series which is now available to view in the NFCW Knowledge Centre... More
Passengers using Qingdao Metro’s line 4 can now use their NFC mobile phone to pay directly for their fares with China’s digital yuan central bank digital currency (CBDC), even if their mobile phone has no signal or has run out of battery... More
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