Commuters in 275 Chinese cities can now add their T-Union public transportation card to their iPhone or Apple Watch and then use their smartphone or wearable to tap in and out of bus and subway services without the need to first validate the transaction using Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode... More
Chinese buyers of premium wines are now able to verify the authenticity of their purchase using the Wine Traceability Platform (WTP), a blockchain-based NFC service designed to protect Chinese consumers against the growing problem of fake wines... More
Coffee giant Starbucks has begun rolling out its Starbucks Now mobile-based, pre-order and pay service to 300 stores in Beijing and Shanghai... More
Apple is expanding its support for transit systems, enabling travellers in the US to use Apple Pay as a replacement for travel tickets... More
Xiaomi Mi Band 3 NFC version to go on sale on September 19; Total wearable sales exceed 50m — Gizmochina — “The company has officially confirmed that it will begin the sales of the Mi Band 3 NFC edition starting from Sept 19 with a price tag of 199 Yuan (US$29 approx)… Apart from supporting contactless payment POS terminals enabled with NFC, the Mi Band 3 NFC version will support city bus card payments in [as] many as 167 cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Suzhou, Hefei, Xi’an, and Jilin among others in China.”
Ride the subway using WeChat Pay — Global Times — “Starting Monday, WeChat Pay will be accepted as a means of payment for passengers riding the metro lines of Shanghai. After downloading and using the official mobile app of Shanghai Metro ‘Metro Daduhui’, passengers can pass through station gates simply by scanning the WeChat QR code.”
Using Apple Pay Express Card features in Beijing and Shanghai — Apple (translation) — “To use the Apple Pay Express Card feature in Beijing or Shanghai, you first need to set up an Apple Pay Transportation Card on your iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus or later, or Apple Watch Series 1, Apple Watch Series 2 or later… In Beijing, you can use transportation cards to pay for subways and buses. In Shanghai, you can use transportation cards to pay for subways, buses, ferries and Maglev trains.”
WeChat opens its first unmanned store in Shanghai — ECNS — “Shoppers need to scan a QR code with their WeChat app to enter the store. Sensors at the exit detect the shopper’s selections and automatically charge their WeChat wallet when they go through a ‘payment door’… WeChat payment industry operations director Bai Zhenjie said it takes less than 0.1 seconds for a customer to pay a bill. He added that facial and image recognition technology may be adopted in the store in the future.”
Shanghai Metro to accept mobile-app payments — Caixin — “QR code-readers are being installed in all 389 metro stations in the city, which will allow passengers to use an app developed by metro operator Shanghai Shentong Metro Group. The app – dubbed ‘Metro daduhui’ – will connect to the payments systems of Alipay and China UnionPay.”
Alibaba testing face recognition technology — AsiaOne — “An army of specially equipped kiosks have been installed across five locations at Shanghai’s financial district of Lujiazui, with cameras scanning people’s faces to verify their identities… Users need to subscribe to a service embedded in the Alipay digital wallet, which gives the app the green light to capture their personal information to confirm their identity”.
Customers of China Merchants Bank will be able to withdraw cash using face recognition technology installed in all of the bank’s ATMs in Shanghai by the end of 2017, South China Morning Post reports... More
PARTNER NEWS: Smartphone maker Huawei is to begin rolling out NFC mobile payments for public transport in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Beijing through Huawei Pay, which launched in China in September 2016... More
Payment networks China UnionPay and Visa have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Shanghai to collaborate on “providing cardholders with more convenient, secure and highly efficient payment services” with a focus on security, innovation and financial inclusion... More
Samsung has confirmed its mobile payment service Samsung Pay will be made available on its recently unveiled Gear S2 smartwatch from November, Droid Life reports... More
Australia’s Ferngrove Wines is to equip smart wine bottles in China with NFC tags to help authenticate individual bottles throughout the supply chain, ensuring they are packaged, shipped, stocked and purchased in their original factory-sealed state... More
PARTNER NEWS: Gemalto will show off its Allynis Trusted Service Hub (TSH) at Mobile World Congress Shanghai this week, alongside demonstrations of other mcommerce, NFC, mobile ID and internet of things solutions... More
Nearly 5,000 KFC China fast food restaurants will accept Alipay mobile payments next month, following in the footsteps of Walmart which is rolling out support for the service in all of its Chinese stores by the end of this year... More
A landmark one square kilometre “smart business district” in Shanghai will use NFC as part of a strategy to network every office, hotel, apartment block, shopping mall and residential property within the area when construction is complete in 2017... More
Residents of Shanghai and Beijing can now ride the metro and pay for tickets with their China Telecom NFC smartphones... More
China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile network operator, has chosen Gemalto to supply it with NFC-enabled SIMs “to protect consumer credentials used for mobile contactless applications, starting with mass transit services in Beijing.”... More