LG has announced the launch of its LG Pay mobile payments service in Korea, allowing consumers with the LG G6 smartphone to make mobile payments using the service’s Wireless Magnetic Communication (WMC) technology... More
Customers of Russian mobile network operator MTS can now make NFC-based mobile payments and access loyalty points and exclusive offers using an updated version of the carrier’s MTS Money Wallet, which made its debut in February 2017... More
Zain signs MoU with Mastercard to boost digital payment services in Jordan — Mastercard — “Zain has been approved to issue Mastercard prepaid cards linked to the Zain Cash mobile wallet to provide subscribers with the advantage of obtaining and utilizing the card locally and globally through a network of more than 50 million points of sale… as well as the possibility of shopping online and using it on the ATM network.”
PARTNER NEWS: Customers of French bank Crédit Agricole can now make host card emulation (HCE) based mobile payments using a new version of the bank’s mobile app ‘Ma Carte’ and Paylib, an online payment acceptance brand supported by France’s main banks... More
Employees at UK bank Barclays and Barclaycard’s London office have begun piloting a new payment concept that allows them to buy low-value goods in the staff restaurant by scanning the barcode on the items using their smartphone and completing the purchase “with a single click” without needing to visit the physical checkout. More
Tipping point for Apple Pay as majority of UK tills accept limitless payments — The Telegraph — “Jennifer Bailey, the head of Apple’s payments business, said over half of contactless payment terminals in the UK are now able to take Apple Pay transactions of any value. The company says Apple Pay transactions in the UK have grown by 300pc in the last year, with 23 banks now supporting the service.”
Google has unveiled a range of new features for Android Pay designed to make it easier for users to save their loyalty cards to the mobile payment service and use Android Pay’s Smart Tap technology to redeem points and offers at the point of sale through a single tap of their NFC device. More
Apple Pay has begun rolling out across Italy with support for Mastercard and Visa cards issued by Carrefour Banca and UniCredit, with American Express, CartaBCC, ExpendiaSmart, Fineco Bank, Hype, Banca Mediolanum, N26 and Widiba listed as “coming this year”. The launch takes Apple Pay to a total of 16 markets globally. More
Supermarket giant Carrefour and French bank BNP Paribas have unveiled a new QR code-based mobile payment platform that will let customers make in-store, online and peer-to-peer (P2P) mobile payments as well as store loyalty cards, coupons and special offers on their mobile device. More
Mastercard, Visa and UnionPay International have introduced a standardised QR code platform for payments in Thailand that will let consumers make a transaction with their mobile device at any supporting location. The service has been designed to support the Bank of Thailand’s cashless agenda which aims to “drive innovation, interoperability and security in payments” across the country. More
More than one in ten German mobile phone users (11.4%) will make a “proximity mobile payment by tapping, swiping or checking in with that device” while in a store in 2017, compared to 20.5% in the US, research released by eMarketer reveals... More
Restaurant chains Eat and Bel-Air are piloting a service in their London locations that delivers real-time receipts to a customer’s mobile banking app by linking to the purchases they make using their bank cards at the retailer’s point-of-sale terminal. The service is also being trialled by UK challenger bank Monzo. More
Customers of Singapore’s DBS Bank and OCBC Bank will soon be able to make in-store mobile payments by scanning a QR code at any point-of-sale terminal belonging to the country’s electronic payments network Nets. More
Employees at Pick n Pay supermarket stores and Absa Bank staff across South Africa have been trialling a biometric card developed by Mastercard that lets them make a payment at any EMV terminal and authenticate the transaction by placing their finger on the embedded sensor. Additional trials are planned over the next few months, with a full roll out expected “later this year”. More
mPOS provider Square could soon be launching a physical Square Cash debit card, according to Recode... More
Android Pay has been integrated into the mobile banking apps of “several banks around the world” so that users can add their cards to the mobile payment service with “just the click of a button”. The feature will also work for those who have not installed Android Pay on their handset, giving them access to “the capabilities of Android Pay” without having to leave their mobile banking app. More
The number of consumers using OEM Pays — mobile payment services delivered by handset manufacturers — such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay will exceed 100m for the first time during the first half of 2017 and is expected to surpass 150m by the end of the year, Juniper Research reveals, while host card emulation (HCE) adoption is set to rise five-fold over the next four years. More
Consumers can now be offered the chance to win prizes related to the purchases they make both in-store and online by playing games such as scratch cards and slot machines that are integrated into a merchant’s payment confirmation pages online and at the payment terminal in a store. More
PayPal users across Asia Pacific will soon be able to make in-store NFC mobile payments in all Visa supporting locations, following an announcement by PayPal and Visa that they are to expand their US payments agreement to the region... More
Amazon customers across the US can now top up their Amazon balance using cash at “thousands of participating convenience, grocery and drug stores” by showing a printed barcode or a barcode on their mobile device to the cashier. They will then be able to use the funds to make online purchases at Amazon. More