A project enabling mobile money transfers to take place at the point of sale in areas of less-developed countries with poor or no mobile network coverage has been unveiled, by removing the reliance on SMS messaging, and, instead, allowing two people to conduct a payment by copying short authentication codes between their phones... More
Retail
Optus adds smart coffee cup to contactless payments range
Australian mobile network operator Optus has updated its range of contactless payment accessories to include a SmartCup — a coffee cup that includes the new Optus Pay PayTag in its base allowing consumers to make contactless payments up to US$100 at any payment terminal that accepts Visa PayWave... More
Android Pay launches in Poland
Android Pay has begun rolling out across Poland, allowing consumers with compatible devices to make payments at more than 400,000 retail locations in the country that accept contactless payments... More
UK bank celebrates blockchain contactless payments trial
Metro Bank in the UK has successfully trialled a blockchain retail payment system, allowing consumers to make purchases from merchants equipped with contactless terminals, with merchant and consumer balances updated in real time... More
Amex cardholders to redeem loyalty points at pharmacy chain
American Express cardholders will soon be able to redeem Membership Rewards points at Rite Aid, the first US pharmacy chain to formalise such a deal with the financial services company... More
French store uses augmented reality for Christmas shoppers
French department store Galeries Lafayette is using augmented reality to offer Christmas shoppers a virtual Arctic experience telling the story of climate change... More
One million MTN Rwanda customers to get NFC mobile payments service
One million subscribers of mobile network operator MTN Rwanda’s MTN Mobile Money service will be able to make in-store payments at thousands of retail outlets within six months using their NFC mobile phones through MTN Tap&Pay, unveiled in collaboration with Verifone Mobile Money and NFC technology provider Youtap... More
US consumers’ use of in-store mobile payments set to soar
The value of mobile payment transactions made in the US is expected to rise 183.3% this year to US$27.67bn, more than doubling next year and reaching US$314.13bn by the year 2020, research released by eMarketer reveals... More
French department store offers Alipay mobile payments
French department store Printemps has partnered with financial services company Wirecard to accept mobile payments from customers using Alipay, the first in France to support the Chinese-based payments solution... More
Caffè Nero to build mobile payments with Yoyo Wallet
Coffee chain Caffè Nero is to build a mobile payment and loyalty platform for its customers using technology supplied by QR code-based platform Yoyo Wallet... More
Spanish drivers ‘very satisfied’ by fuel station mobile payments service
More than 10,000 Spanish customers have made use of retail company Carrefour’s fuel station mobile payments service since it was launched in the summer, with nine out of 10 saying it was a “very satisfying” experience... More
Walmart to add Chase Pay to Walmart Pay service later this year
US retail giant Walmart has become the latest to announce its support for Chase Pay, with plans to enable its customers to make payments through the mobile payment service online and in-app as well as in-store, by integrating Chase Pay within its own Walmart Pay QR code-based mobile payment service... More
More than one in five card payments in UK use contactless, figures show
More than one in five card payments are now made using contactless cards, The UK Cards Association says, adding it is “excited” by the possibilities the technology brings for making payments to transport operators and charities... More
Early results show positive future for Kohl’s Pay
Since US department store chain Kohl’s rolled out its Kohl’s Pay QR code-based mobile payments service last month, week over week the retailer has witnessed a 70% increase in enrollment with user transactions doubling over the same period... More
UK consumers spend £36 every month using mobile payments, study finds
British consumers are spending an average of £36.76 (US$44.95) of their monthly disposable income through mobile payments, equating to £1.46bn (US$1.78bn) spent using mobile devices in the UK every month, research released by VoucherCodes reveals... More
Masterpass enables in-car payments through General Motors’ OnStar
Drivers will soon be able to make purchases from within vehicles using their Masterpass account through OnStar — a subscription-based, in-car communications service and General Motors (GM) subsidiary... More
ING to extend Twyp to 3,500 retail locations
ING wants to enable Spanish consumers “to collect cash with their mobile” in 3,500 retail locations using Twyp, the bank’s P2P mobile payments app launched in December 2015... More
UK supermarket chain trials NFC digital receipts
British supermarket chain Tesco is trialling a digital receipt service which will instantly send via email an electronic record of purchases to customers using a unique NFC sticker linked to an app on their smartphones... More
Mastercard to launch artificial intelligence bots for banks and merchants
Mastercard has unveiled plans to launch artificial intelligence (AI) bots for its merchant and bank partners, allowing consumers to use chat, messaging and natural language interfaces to shop and manage their finances... More
Alipay targets 2bn global users
Chinese mobile payments giant Alipay is targeting 2bn users globally in the next decade, the company’s Douglas Feagin has revealed at Money20/20 in Las Vegas... More