Ecommerce businesses in 23 of the world’s poorer nations have seen “a notable increase” in digital payments as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)... More
Retail
Mashreq Bank rolls out contactless payments on standard NFC phones
Owners of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in the UAE can now accept contactless payments on standard Android NFC smartphones, with no need for additional hardware... More
Hyundai includes fingerprint payments sensor in new Genesis GV70 vehicles
Drivers of Hyundai’s Genesis GV70 SUV will be able to make in-car payments for fuel and parking simply by touching a biometric sensor integrated with the vehicle’s infotainment system... More
Payconiq rolls out cross-border QR mobile payments service in Europe
Users of Payconiq-supported mobile payment apps in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg can now make QR-enabled mobile payments and P2P transfers across all three Benelux countries... More
SBI Card integrates NFC payments into mobile app
SBI Card Mastercard holders in India can now make NFC payments at any contactless point-of-sale terminal from their mobile device after registering their credit card on the latest version of the payment service’s app... More
Japanese airline turns to mobile payments to boost revenues during Covid-19
Frequent flyers with All Nippon Airways (ANA) will soon be able to make in-store purchases and accumulate air miles by using a QR code-enabled mobile payments service that the Japanese airline is to launch “amid shrinking travel demand due to the coronavirus outbreak,” Japan Today reports... More
Ford lets commercial vehicle drivers process payments from their connected vehicle app
Food and beverage suppliers, mobile florists, couriers and other small business owners in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK can now use their FordPass Pro connected vehicle app to accept card payments from their customers... More
Digital greeting cards giant Evite adds contactless gifting
Senders of Evite digital greeting cards can now also send the recipient a gift card, via an integration with Blackhawk Network‘s eGift service... More
UBS launches sustainable credit card made from corn
Customers of Swiss bank UBS can now opt for an environmentally friendly credit card made from a corn-based plastic substitute — and will soon be able to apply for a digital-only card that they can start using immediately upon acceptance... More
OP Financial to pilot biometric payment card in Finland
Finland’s OP Financial Group is to pilot a biometric payment card that will allow users to authenticate payments over the contactless transaction limit with their fingerprint rather than with a PIN... More
Nordic countries record surge in contactless payments during pandemic
The proportion of in-store purchases made using contactless cards in the Nordic countries has risen from 57% in January this year to 75% in late October, an increase “in part driven by concerns around the potential spread of Covid-19,” regional payments processor Nets reports... More
Google Pay to launch mobile-first bank accounts in the USA in 2021
Consumers in the USA will be able to open mobile-first checking and saving accounts with 11 banks and credit unions from within Google Pay from 2021, Google has revealed in a blog post that also announces the launch of a redesigned version of the Google Pay app for both Android and iOS... More
American Express adds instant digital card provisioning for Apple Pay
American Express cardholders in the USA can now add their card to their Apple Pay wallet via the card network’s website as soon as their application has been approved, removing the need to wait for a physical card to arrive or to manually input their card details... More
US credit union pilots dynamic CVV codes on mobile devices
Members of Michigan State University Federal Credit Union (MSUFCU) in the USA are to take part in a three-month pilot scheme to test the use of dynamic CVV codes when making online or in-app purchases with their credit card... More
Survey: 4 in 10 US consumers open to receiving offers via NFC, QR and SMS
More than a third (38%) of US consumers intending to shop at brick-and-mortar retail outlets on Black Friday and Cyber Monday say they are interested in discounts and offers made via out-of-home (OOH) advertising signage that uses QR codes, NFC and SMS text messages, according to a new survey... More
Huawei Pay goes live in Malaysia
Malaysian consumers with compatible Huawei smartphones can now use Huawei Pay to make NFC mobile payments with an ICBC UnionPay credit card stored in their mobile wallet... More
Survey finds 7 in 10 Swedish consumers are interested in having a biometric payment card
Some 70% of Swedish consumers would be interested in having a biometric payment card so they can make high-value transactions without having to touch a point-of-sale (POS) terminal, a new survey reveals — and 59% would be willing to pay a monthly fee for one... More
Google Pay expands to 10 extra countries in Europe
Google Pay has gone live in Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Portugal and Romania with support for Mastercard and Visa cards issued by participating banks and card issuers... More
JCB reports 30% rise in contactless payments volumes
The number of contactless transactions made by some 140 million JCB cardholders across 24 markets increased by more than 30% between July 2019 and July this year, the Tokyo-based payments network reports in a new white paper... More
Standard Bank to support contactless payments in 15 African countries
Standard Bank is supporting the mass rollout of contactless cards across Africa as the financial services group reports an accelerated increase in the use of tap and pay across the continent... More