More than eight in ten consumers in Singapore now use contactless cards (82%) and the widespread use of and preference for contactless card payments is one of the key drivers behind the country’s “shift towards becoming a cashless nation”, according to a Visa report... More
Retail
In-store mobile and wearable transaction values in Italy rise by 122% to hit US$17.5bn
Consumers in Italy used their smartphones or wearable devices to make in-store contactless payments worth a total of €16.3bn (US$17.5bn) in 2022, an increase of 122% compared with 2021, according to the Innovative Payments Observatory (IPO) at Milan Polytechnic University... More
CBDC transactions to top US$213bn worldwide by 2030
The total annual value of transactions made using central bank digital currencies (CBDC) will exceed US$213bn by 2030, up from US$100m in 2023, according to a Juniper Research forecast... More
US Department of Agriculture to put state benefits on mobile phones in five states
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is to enable citizens entitled to financial support under its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri and Oklahoma to receive benefits and make NFC or QR code payments for eligible purchases on their mobile device... More
Central bank enables rollout of contactless mobile payments in Egypt
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has issued regulations governing payment card tokenization on mobile apps that enable banks and payment service providers to allow customers to make contactless payments with digital cards stored in mobile wallets including Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay... More
ANZ to run central bank digital currency pilot at Australian universities
The Australia and New Zealand Bank (ANZ) is to pilot the use of a prototype central bank digital currency (CBDC) for offline transactions using pre-loaded contactless cards at RMIT University in the Australian city of Melbourne and Southern Cross University in New South Wales... More
Mahajati picks Ixkio to authenticate artworks with NFC
EXHIBITOR NEWS: Singapore-based Islamic wood-carving specialist Mahajati has selected ixkio’s NFC tag management platform to enable purchasers of its unique artworks to verify the authenticity of the product and provide proof of ownership by scanning an NFC authentication tag with their smartphone... More
Google Wallet goes live in Costa Rica
Google Wallet has launched in Costa Rica, enabling users to store and use their credit and debit cards, boarding passes, tickets and other digital credentials on their Android NFC smartphone, Wear OS smartwatch or Fitbit device... More
European Central Bank sets out timeline for digital euro rollout
The European Central Bank (ECB) has laid out plans for a staggered rollout of a digital euro that would begin with the bank initially releasing the central bank digital currency (CBDC) for use in person-to-person and ecommerce transactions... More
NFC Forum explains how NFC tags and devices can be used to facilitate mobility-as-a-service solutions
KNOWLEDGE CENTRE: A new white paper from the NFC Forum that explains how NFC technology can be used to facilitate the implementation of mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) solutions by enabling appropriate levels of authentication across a range of use cases is now available to download from the NFCW Knowledge Centre... More
SoftPOS case study: Slides and webinar recording now available
A slide deck and video recording from NFCW’s softPOS case study featuring Trust Payments and Dejamobile is now available to access free of charge in the NFCW Knowledge Centre... More
Samsung and Naver partner on mobile payments in Korea as Apple Pay prepares to go live
Samsung and Naver have formed a strategic partnership designed to maintain the two companies’ mobile payments market leadership in South Korea ahead of Apple’s expected launch of Apple Pay in the country in the coming months... More
Join us today for a webinar about taking contactless payments with standard NFC mobile phones
If you’d like to know more about taking contactless payments with stock Android and Apple mobile phones join us for our ‘SoftPOS case study’ webinar at 3pm GMT today... More
Barclays reports 50% increase in UK contactless transactions by value
The total value of contactless payments made in the UK jumped by 49.7% in 2022, Barclays reports, “as Brits embraced the £100 transaction limit and returned to high street shopping following the easing of all coronavirus restrictions”... More
Laos central bank launches CBDC pilot
The central bank of Laos has begun testing a proof of concept central bank digital currency (CBDC) known as the DLak or digital Lao kip as part of its research into the potential issuance of a CBDC in the country... More
Apple Pay set to launch in Korea
Apple Pay will go live in South Korea with support from Hyundai Card in the next few months, according to local media reports that cite statements from the two companies... More
New York grocery store launches contactless scan and pay shopping
Customers at Foodcellar Market grocery stores in New York City in the US can now scan the items they wish to purchase with their smartphone and then pay for them from their mobile device before leaving the store... More
Nepal introduces in-store NFC mobile payments
Consumers in Nepal can now make contactless NFC payments by tapping their smartphone on an NFC reader at the point of sale (POS) without needing an internet connection... More
Indian banks begin testing digital rupee for contactless in-store payments
India’s ICICI, IDFC First and Kotak Mahindra banks have begun enabling selected merchants to accept contactless in-store payments made using the retail version of the prototype digital rupee as part of the first phase of the Reserve Bank of India’s retail central bank digital currency pilot... More
Researchers unveil system that enables users to feel touch at a distance
Researchers in Japan have unveiled a system that allows users to communicate physical sensations and haptic information between devices and could enable contactless augmented interactions across a range of use cases including healthcare, sport, education and ecommerce... More