Transit agencies in the US would benefit from introducing open loop contactless fare payment systems but widespread adoption “has remained elusive” owing to challenges that both the US public transportation and payments sectors need to address, according to a report by the Washington DC-based Brookings Institution research group... More
Payments
Moscow Metro reports on face biometric ticketing adoption
Passengers travelling on the Moscow Metro and Moscow Central Circle services in the Russian capital paid for a total of around 32m journeys using the network’s FacePay biometric contactless fare payment system and more than 220,000 new users registered to use FacePay during 2022, Moscow Metro reports... More
Türkiye to extend contactless fare payments to public transport networks in 40 provinces
Residents and tourists using public transport services in 40 provinces across Türkiye will soon be able to make contactless fare payments with their credit, debit or prepaid card without needing to purchase a ticket or local transport pass... More
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank rolls out contactless payment wearables
Customers of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) can now make tokenized contactless payments using a range of wearables, including a contactless payments ring and a clasp with an embedded contactless payments chip that they can attach to a watch, bracelet or other wearable accessory... More
RBR: Eight in ten payment terminals across the world now accept contactless payments
More than eight in ten payment terminals worldwide now accept contactless payments (82%) as the number of outlets accepting card payments globally grew by 2% in 2021 to reach 88m and the number of eftpos terminals increased by 5% to reach 134m, according to research from RBR... More
Osaka Metro tests hands-free contactless payments for wheelchair users
Passengers who use a wheelchair travelling on services operated by Osaka Metro in Japan are the first to trial a biometric contactless fare payment system that enables them to pay by passing through a wheelchair-accessible ticket gate equipped with face recognition technology... More
Sella trials contactless biometric credit card in Italy
The Sella banking group in Italy is piloting a biometric credit card that enables users to authenticate both contactless and contact payments with their fingerprint with selected customers of its subsidiary consumer credit company Sella Personal Credit... More
Bank of Korea reports slow transaction processing times in DLT digital currency pilot
The Bank of Korea (BOK) is to review additional central bank digital currency (CBDC) design options after its 10-month experiment to test a retail CBDC based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) revealed “limitations of scalability” such as slow processing times during periods of high transaction volume when compared with a more conventional centralised ledger database, the bank says... More
Qatar introduces national contactless prepaid debit card in bid to boost financial inclusion
Qatar Central Bank is to launch a national contactless prepaid debit card that will enable both banked and unbanked citizens to make contactless payments at the point of sale, withdraw cash from ATMs and make online purchases... More
Contactless World Congress to explore the future of contactless payments, credentials, ticketing and beyond in 2023
Contactless World Congress will dive deep into the future of contactless payments, ticketing and credentials in 2023 with a series of five live events that explore the very latest innovations in contactless technology from across the world... More
Société Générale launches biometric card for business customers in Morocco
Société Générale customers with a business account in Morocco can now apply for a biometric bank card that enables them to authorise contactless payments of any amount with their fingerprint rather than using a PIN or any other form of authorisation... More
First Abu Dhabi Bank brings biometric credit cards to the UAE
Customers of First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) in the United Arab Emirates can now apply for a biometric credit card — the first to be launched in the country — that enables users to verify both contact and contactless payments with their fingerprint and earn reward points that they can redeem at more than 3,500 locations across the UAE... More
WeChat Pay lets Chinese consumers make payments with their palm
WeChat Pay users in China can now opt to authenticate payments with their palm at merchants that support the payment service’s new biometric WeChat Palm Payment solution... More
EasyCard lets consumers top up their stored value card via NFC
Consumers in Taiwan can now purchase an upgraded version of the EasyCard stored value smart payments and transit card that they can top up directly from their NFC smartphone without needing to use a reload or top-up machine at a metro station or convenience store... More
Mastercard releases first quantum-resistant contactless payment cards
Mastercard has launched the first contactless payment cards to incorporate enhanced quantum-resistant security features compliant with EMVCo’s newly released EMV Contactless Kernel Specification... More
Green Payments to let consumers pay by fingerprint at US stores
Merchants across the US will soon be able to accept biometric payments authenticated by a customer’s fingerprint using a point-of-sale (POS) solution launched by payment processing provider Green Payments... More
ABN Amro trials integrated digital identity and payments app
Consumers hiring bicycles from micromobility provider Swapfiets are the first to be able to sign up for a new service from Dutch bank ABN Amro that enables them to use a single app to create a digital ID and then use it both to sign up and to pay for third-party services... More
EMVCo releases contactless kernel specification to streamline payment acceptance
EMVCo has officially launched the EMV Contactless Kernel Specification detailing the features and requirements for the software used to process transactions in payment acceptance devices such as point-of-sale terminals and ATMs that will simplify and advance global payment acceptance, enhance security, improve transaction speeds and support more reliable data transmission... More
Curve partners with Fidesmo to roll out contactless wearable payments across Europe
Curve digital wallet users across Europe can now add multiple payment cards to a range of wearable NFC devices including rings, bracelets, watches and pens and use them to make contactless payments via the Fidesmo Pay wearable payments platform... More
EU confirms plans to table digital euro legislation in 2023
The European Commission is planning to propose the legislation required for the introduction of the digital euro as a central bank digital currency issued by the European Central Bank (ECB) in 2023, EU commissioner Mairead McGuinness has confirmed... More