Australian university tests central bank digital currency for cash disbursements in emergency situations

CBDC pilot participants, including Southern Cross students and staff members

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









Bank of Canada reports on offline central bank digital currency design options

Bank of Canada design options FOR offline CBDC functionality

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





One in two Brazilians now store contactless credentials on their smartphone

Survey graph showing one in two Brazilians now store contactless digital ID credentials on their smartphone

More than half of the Brazilian population are now storing and using a digital version of their voter ID card (54%) or driving licence (51%) on their smartphone, while just over four in ten have a digital vaccination card (43%) and one in four have uploaded the recently launched digital Carta de Identidade Nacional national ID card (25%), according to a survey... More



Nearly half of UK consumers now make mobile payments every week

More than four in ten UK consumers now make in-person and ecommerce purchases from their mobile device on a weekly basis (43%), making mobile payments “the predominant form of payment” in the country with mobile commerce transaction values predicted to reach £100m (US$112m) by 2024, according to research published by payment services provider Rapyd... More


Researchers develop technique for integrating NFC chips with printed electronics for flexible active smart tags

High performance paper-based NFC tag developed for a wide range of use cases

Researchers at the University of Glasgow in the UK have developed a hybrid technique for “robustly” integrating solid NFC chips with printed circuits on flexible materials such as fabric and paper that could “extend the effective use of flexible electronics in applications such as smart tags, IoT wearables, robotics, ultrathin displays, healthcare and so on” by enabling the development of active tags... More


Mastercard reports on growth in consumer adoption of emerging payments technologies

Nearly nine in ten consumers worldwide have made digital payments using digital wallets, contactless, QR codes, buy now pay later, money transfer apps, cryptocurrencies, biometrics and other digital payment technologies (85%) and more than six in ten say they have increased their usage of at least one digital payment method (61%) in the last 12 months, according to a Mastercard survey... More