The number of people in Japan who use their smartphone to make mobile payments at the point of sale will reach 23.9 million — 21.5% of the population — by the end of this year, up from 19.1 million in 2019, according to an eMarketer forecast... More
Retail
Juniper forecasts “dramatic growth” in in-vehicle payments for fuel, parking and ecommerce
The transaction value of in-vehicle payments made using embedded onboard systems will rise from US$543m in 2020 to $86bn in 2025, driven by fuel, parking, food, drink and other ecommerce purchases, Juniper Research predicts... More
Google Pay rolls out tokenized NFC card payments in India
Google Pay users in India can now make tokenized NFC-based credit and debit card payments at contactless POS terminals, starting with customers of Axis Bank and SBI “with Kotak and more banks expected to follow suit very soon”... More
Survey: Four in ten US and UK consumers ready to use QR codes for payments
The popularity of QR codes has “skyrocketed” in the USA and UK this year, with 53% of consumers saying they want to see QR codes used more broadly in future and 43% that they plan to use a QR code as a payment method soon, a new survey has revealed... More
Google Pay streamlines user interface
Google Pay users can now access and add their payment, loyalty and gift cards, passes and transit tickets to the app via a new streamlined user interface that simplifies navigation... More
UK pilots new ways to provide access to cash in communities without bank branches
Residents and small businesses in nine UK communities are taking part in a series of pilot schemes which aim to improve access to cash in rural and disadvantaged areas, where individuals remain dependent on cash but where bank branches and ATMs have closed down and local cash infrastructure is under threat... More
Klip digital wallet goes live in UAE
Customers of First Abu Dhabi Bank, Mashreq Bank and the National Bank of Fujairah in the UAE can now make cashless digital payments using Klip, the digital wallet that forms part of the country’s new national digital cash replacement platform... More
Jacksonville Jaguars add QR payments to mobile ticketing app
Fans of the Jacksonville Jaguars American Football team can now make QR-based mobile payments at retailers and concessions across its TIAA Bank Field stadium using a mobile wallet integrated into the official team app, which supporters can already use to access their mobile tickets for entry on game day... More
Titan and SBI pick Tappy wearable payments technology for India’s first contactless payment watches
PARTNER NEWS: Watch brand Titan has partnered with State Bank of India (SBI) for the launch of a range of watches that makes use of Canada-based Tappy Tech’s wearable payments technology to let consumers make contactless transactions at POS terminals across India... More
Apple rolls out iOS 14 with support for NFC app clips
Apple has begun rolling out iOS 14, bringing with it support for App Clips that let brands and merchants use NFC tags to provide quick and easy access to mini apps... More
Jersey promotes consumer spending at local businesses with prepaid stimulus card
Residents of the island of Jersey can now make contactless payments to local businesses using a prepaid card that is being sent to all eligible citizens as part of a fiscal stimulus package designed to alleviate the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic... More
Dunkin’ to pilot checkout-free store in California
Customers of US coffee chain Dunkin’ in California will soon be able to walk into a store, pick up a coffee and pay for it from their mobile phone without having to pre-order, interact with staff, wait to pay at a checkout or scan goods at a kiosk... More
UAE to launch national digital cash replacement platform that works for both banked and unbanked consumers
Both banked and unbanked residents of the UAE will soon be able to make instant cashless digital payments using a digital cash platform which they can either link directly to their bank accounts or add value to with cash at registered locations... More
Lifvs brings unmanned supermarkets to rural communities
Consumers living in remote parts of rural Sweden where conventional stores and supermarkets have closed down can now use their mobile phones to buy goods 24 hours a day at automated, unmanned grocery stores operated by Swedish retail start-up Lifvs... More
Bermuda trials digital stimulus token to distribute financial aid to citizens’ mobile phones
Residents and retailers in Bermuda are taking part in a pilot to test the viability of a “digital stimulus token”, which the Bermudan Government hopes to use to distribute financial aid more efficiently and to facilitate the purchase of food and other essential items during and beyond the Covid-19 pandemic... More
Vipps signs deal with Visa to make its mobile wallet platform available to card issuers across Europe
Visa’s client banks and card issuers across Europe will be able to use a platform developed by Norwegian payments app Vipps to launch their own mobile wallets, following a strategic partnership deal signed by the two companies... More
NPCI creates new company to take India’s UPI and RuPay global
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced the launch of subsidiary firm NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) with the aim of exporting its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) real-time mobile payments service and RuPay domestic payment card scheme to global markets... More
Google Pay tests NFC card payments in India
Google Pay has begun testing tokenized NFC-based credit and debit card payments in India, enabling users of supported cards to add them to their payment options for NFC, QR and online payments... More
Giant Eagle installs checkout-free technology at GetGo Café+Market store
US supermarket chain Giant Eagle has installed checkout-free technology at a GetGo Café+Market store in the Greater Pittsburgh area, enabling customers to simply walk into the store, select the items they wish to purchase and checkout via their mobile phone... More
Octopus to launch new transit card that works in mainland China?
Users of Octopus transit cards in Hong Kong could soon be able to pay for public transport fares in mainland China, with the ability to make payments for purchases at stores across the country to follow, the company’s outgoing CEO has told the South China Morning Post... More