Shenzhen-based wearable device maker FiiSmart has launched a campaign on ecommerce giant Alibaba’s Taobao Crowdfunding website for a smartwatch that will support Ant Financial’s mobile payment platform Alipay and allow its wearers to make payments by generating a QR-code that can then be scanned at the point-of-sale... More
Retail
USA Technologies adds NFC to 100,000 vending machines
Cashless vending machine technology provider USA Technologies has now equipped approximately 300,000 locations across the US to accept Apple Pay and Android Pay, the company has revealed — up 100,000 on the 200,000 units it reported in February 2015... More
Samsung Pay adds new features
Samsung Pay has updated its app for Android devices for those currently using the service in a beta test in the US... More
McDonald’s to accept Alipay in more than 2,100 restaurants in China
Chinese customers of fast food chain McDonald’s will soon be able to use Ant Financial’s Alipay QR code mobile payment platform to pay for their food and drink in more than 2,100 restaurants... More
40% of UK Apple device owners have used Apple Pay
Four in ten UK consumers with an Apple Pay compatible device (40%) have used the mobile payment service to pay for goods or services since its launch in July 2015 and 15% feel that the introduction of Apple Pay will increase the amount of contactless payments they make, eDigitalResearch has found... More
Barclays’ Pingit partners with Verifone
Some 20,000 online retailers in the UK that use Verifone’s Payware Ocius m-commerce gateway will now be able to accept online payments through Barclays’ mobile payments app Pingit... More
Starbucks rolls out mobile ordering across USA
Coffee chain Starbucks is to make its Mobile Order & Pay service available across the US so customers nationwide can place and pay for orders in advance using their iOS and Android devices... More
Grupo Aval introduces in-store mobile payments and offers in Colombia
Grupo Aval, Colombia’s largest financial services group, has launched a mobile payment and offers service that lets customers of its Av Villas, Banco de Bogotá, Banco de Occidente and Banco Popular banks make in-store payments using a code generated on their mobile phone... More
Pizza Hut installs Bluetooth beacons at 1,471 locations in China
Some 1,471 Pizza Hut restaurants in mainland China have installed Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons from Sensoro to send out coupons, WeChat movie ticket prizes, special offers and discounts directly to customers’ smartphones... More
Henry Holland uses NFC rings to let London Fashion Week VIPs buy direct from the catwalk
VIP guests attending fashion designer Henry Holland’s show at this week’s London Fashion Week were able to make purchases from the catwalk by tapping NFC rings against payment receiver tags attached to clothes and accessories... More
Axis Bank launches mobile wallet that uses sound for in-store payments
India’s Axis Bank has launched Lime, a mobile wallet that combines banking, shopping and payment services and lets customers make in-store purchases using an encrypted audio signal generated by their device... More
Macy’s adopts PayPal in-store mobile payments
US department store chain Macy’s will enable PayPal as a payment option for in-store, online and mobile purchases by the end of September 2015... More
Best Buy begins support for Apple Pay and Android Pay
US retail chain Best Buy has begun rolling out its planned support for Apple Pay as well as Android Pay... More
Japanese coffee chain lets customers charge purchases to their mobile phone bill
Japan’s largest coffee chain Ueshima Coffee is to let customers make purchases by charging the cost to their mobile phone bill through a partnership with carrier billing solutions provider Boku and mobile network operators KDDI and Docomo... More
RapidNFC offers NFC jewellery tags for product authentication
PARTNER NEWS: NFC tag specialist RapidNFC has introduced an NFC Jewellery Tag designed for merchants to use on high-value products including watches, rings and necklaces... More
Chase redeems rewards in stores
Chase has introduced Android and iOS apps for Chase Freedom cardholders that allow them to redeem cashback rewards at the register on their mobile phone... More
Barclaycard uses HCE to add NFC payments to mobile app
Barclaycard is to expand the functionality of its Android mobile app to include NFC mobile payments, allowing customers to make purchases at more than 300,000 locations in the UK as well as across the London transport network from November 2015... More
Carrefour Belgium to roll out contactless terminals
Supermarket giant Carrefour Belgium has teamed up with Visa Europe and transaction services provider Worldline to roll out contactless payments in 747 stores across the country by the end of this year... More
Starbucks to expand mobile ordering and payments across the US
Starbucks has revealed that it will make its Mobile Order & Pay service available in all of its US stores by the end of September 2015... More
MasterPass volumes up 40% in Europe
The number of MasterPass transactions in Europe has increased at an average 40% every month for the last six months and the online payment solution is now accepted at over a quarter of a million retailers around the world, MasterCard has revealed... More