Bluetooth low energy (BLE) beacons and proximity marketing solutions will drive US$7.5bn in spending by millennials in the US this holiday season, research from beacon network inMarket predicts... More
Proximity
College students make payments with selfies
Students at Southwestern College in Kansas can now pay for their food and drink and earn loyalty points and rewards using their face, with no need to pull out their wallet or mobile device at the point-of-sale. More
Americans to spend $27bn via mobile payments in stores in 2016
The total value of mobile payment transactions in the US will grow 210% in 2016 and nearly one in five smartphone users will make a mobile payment in a store next year, eMarketer’s latest proximity mobile payments forecast predicts. More
US banks pilot mobile wallet authentication and issuance at the ATM
PARTNER NEWS: ATM manufacturer Diebold has teamed up with HCE specialist SimplyTapp to offer banks a way to use their ATM network to add a layer of card present security to their mobile wallet provisioning process... More
Swiss develop ‘Sound-Proof’ authentication
Swiss researchers have unveiled a two-factor authentication mechanism dubbed ‘Sound-Proof’ that uses the noise recorded by a user’s phone and the device he or she wants to log into to verify identity... More
SmarTone unveils Kiss mobile marketing platform with NFC payments and Bluetooth beacons
Hong Kong mobile network operator SmarTone has unveiled Kissco, an end-to-end mobile marketing platform incorporating Kiss Pay, a mobile payments service based on NFC and ultrasound technology, a Kiss Dollars loyalty program and Kiss Beacons to allow retailers to send out offers and promotions directly to customers’ smartphones from their stores... More
Wearable payments to reach $501bn by 2020
Payments made using wearable devices such as smart watches, fitness trackers and wristbands will grow from US$3.1bn in 2015 to $501.1bn worldwide by 2020, research from market intelligence firm Tractica finds... More
Google introduces Eddystone, a new open format for BLE beacons
Google has introduced an open format for Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons that is designed to address the shortcomings of existing beacon services and is compatible with both Android and iOS devices. More
Singapore to trial contactless payments for transport
Singapore’s Ministry of Transport and Land Transport Authority (LTA) will trial contactless payments using devices including wristbands later this year... More
Apple Watch patent transfers data in a shake
Apple’s latest patent details how an Apple Watch could exchange information with another when wearers greet each other with a handshake... More
Gimbal aims to turn any Bluetooth Low Energy device into a beacon
Mobile location and proximity services provider Gimbal has begun licensing its Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon firmware to enable almost any device with BLE to act as a beacon — including ATMs, jukeboxes, access points, vending machines and more... More
Verizon announces investment in SimplyTapp
PARTNER NEWS: Verizon Ventures, the investment arm of US carrier Verizon, has revealed that it was the undisclosed lead investor in a Series B funding round for HCE specialist SimplyTapp that totalled US$6m... More
Beacons land at UK airports to send out offers and rewards
Eight UK airports are to roll out a network of 200 Bluetooth Low Energy beacons that will deliver notifications such as offers and rewards to passengers while they wait for their flights... More
US mobile payments to hit $487bn
US mobile proximity payments will rise to US$487bn gross dollar volume (GDV) by 2020, up from $7.5bn GDV this year, Aite Group forecasts. “While mobile proximity payments will grow quickly as NFC distribution becomes universal and customers begin to use the platforms,” says author Thad Peterson, “mobile commerce will drive more transaction volume than mobile proximity payments in the next five years.”... More
US in-store mobile payments to hit $54bn by 2019
Mobile proximity payments — those made by consumers at the physical point of sale using a mobile device — in the US will total US$54bn by 2019, Javelin Strategy and Research has projected... More
Twitter invests in beacon marketer Swirl
Twitter has invested an undisclosed sum in Boston-based proximity marketing specialist Swirl, hinting the social media platform could be looking at using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons to push messages. The social media giant has invested alongside Hearst Ventures, Softbank Capital and others in an $18m series-C round, taking the total raised by Swirl so far to $32m... More
Finnish banks add HCE payments to Pivo mobile wallet
Finland’s largest financial services group is to add support for HCE payments to the mobile wallet app it introduced two years ago... More
CardMobili adds beacons to mobile wallet
CardMobili has added support for Bluetooth beacon-based marketing services to its digital wallet platform... More
Danish city installs Bluetooth and WiFi sensors to track shopper behaviour
The Aalborg City Business Association has installed sensors in pedestrian areas of the Danish city to track visitor behaviour using a Bluetooth and WiFi technology platform provided by IT company Blip Systems. More
Indian shopping malls to pilot iBeacon
Mobile marketing and advertising platform BeaconStream is to pilot iBeacon technology in malls in Bengaluru and Chennai, India, within the next three weeks, The Hindu reports... More