Gyeonggi-do Province Transportation Bureau in South Korea has officially launched a ‘tagless’ fare payment system that uses Bluetooth technology to detect a Bluetooth signal from a passenger’s smartphone when they board and alight from the vehicle and then automatically charges their pre- or post-paid transit card for their fare... More
Payments
First National Bank reports ‘surge’ in contactless payments from smart devices in South Africa
The total transaction values of contactless payments made using a smart device processed by retail and commercial clients of South Africa’s First National Bank (FNB) has increased from R640m (US$43m) in 2020 to “in excess” of R4.2bn (US$3bn) in 2021, the bank reports... More
China updates digital yuan wallet app for Apple users
China has issued an update to the pilot version of its digital yuan wallet app for Apple users that is “adapted to the iOS 15.4 system changes” released this week, and has uncovered an attempt to use the central bank digital currency (CBDC) in a fraud and money laundering case, according to local media reports... More
Average UK contactless transaction value rises by 30%
The value of the average contactless payment made in the UK has risen by 30% since the country increased its contactless spending limit from £45 (US$59) to £100 (US$132) in October last year, according to figures from UK Finance... More
Apple Pay goes live in Argentina and Peru
Apple Pay has launched in Argentina and Peru with support for Mastercard and Visa cards issued by six banks in Argentina and five in Peru. It has confirmed the service is now live in both countries. More
Libyan bank to pilot biometric payment cards
Mediterranean Bank in Libya will be the first in the country to trial biometric payment cards that enable customers to authenticate contactless payments with their fingerprint... More
President Biden lays out US digital currency strategy
US President Joe Biden has signed an executive order (EO) “outlining the first ever, whole-of-government approach to addressing the risks and harnessing the potential benefits of digital assets and their underlying policy” including the possible issuance of a US central bank digital currency (CBDC), the White House says... More
OEM Pay ecommerce transaction volumes to exceed 30.7bn by 2026
Consumers worldwide will use payment services provided by smartphone makers and other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to make more than 30.7bn ecommerce transactions by 2026, an increase of more than 24.5bn on the 6.1bn predicted for 2022, according to a forecast by Juniper Research... More
Banco Central do Brasil names CBDC project partners
The Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) has named the partner organisations that will support the next phase of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) project... More
China to roll out next phase of digital yuan testing
China is to launch trials of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) in more cities and regions across the country after rolling out a pilot version of the digital yuan wallet app in January and trialling the CBDC during the Beijing Winter Olympics... More
Delhi lets tourists top up metro fare payment cards from official tourism app
Tourists in India can now top up their contactless Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) transit card and receive information about routes and fares from their Apple or Android mobile device via the official Delhi Tourism app... More
Contactless card purchases to exceed 522bn globally by 2026
The number of contactless card purchases made worldwide will increase by an average of 23% a year and reach a total of more than 522bn by 2026, up by more than 370bn on the 149bn recorded in 2020, according to a forecast by Retail Banking Research (RBR)... More
Santa Maria gets mobility app for contactless fare payments and trip planning
Santa Maria Regional Transit (SMRT) in the US has launched a mobility app that enables passengers on the Californian city’s public transport network to make contactless payments for all available fare options and validate their ticket or pass by scanning a QR code at an on-board validator... More
Swedish challenger bank rolls out biometric payment cards
Customers of Swedish challenger bank Rocker can now apply for a biometric payment card that allows them to authenticate payments of any amount with their fingerprint rather than using a PIN... More
Global shipments of biometric payment cards to grow by 850% and reach 173m in 2026
Shipments of biometric payment cards with embedded fingerprint sensors will grow by almost 850% and reach a total of 173m worldwide by 2026, according to a forecast by Juniper Research... More
Ukraine calls on Visa and Mastercard to stop servicing cards issued by Russian banks
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has called on Visa and Mastercard to stop servicing payments cards issued by Russian banks following the Russian invasion of Ukraine... More
Spain sees highest growth rate in contactless payments in Europe
The total number of contactless card payments made in Spain increased by 10% during 2021, the highest growth rate recorded in Europe, according to payment services provider Minsait Payments... More
NFC Forum certifies Cilab for CR13 testing
PARTNER NEWS: Cilab has received NFC Forum CR13 certification and is to release a testing suite for its ci230 high-speed tester that will enable developers and manufacturers to check and verify that their NFC devices meet the specification requirements laid out in the CR13 product certification program... More
More than one in three in-person payments in Latin America and the Caribbean are now contactless
More than a third of in-person payments made using Visa credentials across Latin America and the Caribbean in December 2021 were contactless (“close to 35%”), a two-fold increase on the same period in 2020, according to Visa Consulting and Analytics (VCA)... More
Budapest launches Mobility-as-a-Service app with citywide and regional transit ticketing
Budapesti Közlekedési Központ (BKK) transit authority has launched a new Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) app that enables public transport users in the Hungarian capital of Budapest to plan their journeys, purchase digital tickets and transit passes and receive real-time information about traffic-related changes to transport services... More