Apple has begun retailing NFC-enabled smart door locks that are compatible with its digital Home Key feature, enabling users in the USA to lock and unlock their home with a tap of their iPhone or Apple Watch using a digital key stored in Wallet... More
iPhone users will soon be able to attach tags to their keys, wallets, bags and other personal items that use NFC, ultra wideband (UWB) and Bluetooth technology to enable them to easily locate their belongings with their smartphone... More
7-Eleven is running a pilot of a new mobile payments service that includes an option for iPhone owners to use Siri to pay for their fuel from their vehicle using only their voice... More
Updates to Apple’s Core NFC framework in iOS 13 will make it possible to write to NFC tags from an iPhone for the first time. Support will also be added for a new kind of ‘value added service’ tag and for reading and writing to ISO 7816 smart cards and tags and ISO 15693 (NFC Forum Type 5) vicinity cards and tags. Integration with Siri Shortcuts for single tap, multi-step automated workflows is also being added. More
‘How do you want to check your balance?’ Tesco Bank lets customers use Apple’s Siri to check their balance — Tesco Bank — “Tesco Bank has today announced changes to its mobile banking app, which will enable iPhone customers to check account balances using Apple’s Siri functionality… To use our new Siri feature within the mobile banking app, customers should first ensure the functionality is enabled on their device. Customers can then turn on Siri within the app by visiting the settings menu.”
NTT Data study finds Alexa and Siri will drive the digital customer experience of the future for financial services firms — NTT Data — “Consumers are comfortable providing FSIs [Financial Services Institutions] with access to a wide range of data if it enables them to provide advice on spending, insurance products or coverages, or targeted financing options to meet their financial goals. 68% would share online retail purchase information, 61% would share geolocation information, 49% would share Uber, Lyft and OpenTable information, 42% would share Facebook and Twitter information.”
iOS 11 is available tomorrow — Apple — “Coming this fall with an update to iOS 11 and watchOS 4, Apple Pay users will be able to send and receive money from friends and family quickly, easily and securely. Pay and get paid right in Messages, or tell Siri to pay someone, using the credit and debit cards they have in Wallet. When users get paid, they receive the money in their new Apple Pay Cash card in Apple Wallet and can use the money instantly.”
A simple design flaw makes it astoundingly easy to hack Siri and Alexa — Co.Design — “Using a technique called the DolphinAttack, a team from Zhejiang University translated typical vocal commands into ultrasonic frequencies that are too high for the human ear to hear, but perfectly decipherable by the microphones and software powering our always-on voice assistants. This relatively simple translation process lets them take control of gadgets with just a few words uttered in frequencies none of us can hear.”
RBC first bank in Canada to enable bill payments using Siri — Royal Bank of Canada — “Thanks to an update to the RBC Mobile app, Royal Bank of Canada personal banking clients are now the first in Canada who can ask Siri to pay their bills on iPhone and iPad. RBC also launched seamless Interac e-Transfer payments within iMessage, which means clients can send a transfer without leaving their iMessage window.”
PayPal now available on App Store, Apple Music, iTunes and more — PayPal — “PayPal’s availability across Apple’s services further expands our vision of providing customers a variety of ways to easily make mobile purchases, such as asking Siri to make a payment using the PayPal app… Once PayPal has been selected, all future purchases with the customer’s Apple ID will be automatically charged to their PayPal account.”
Apple Pay users across the US will soon be able to make peer-to-peer (P2P) money transfers to friends and family using a new feature set to be integrated into Apple’s iMessage platform through the latest iOS 11 operating system... More
OCBC Bank launches cashless QR code payments with its first standalone mobile payments app — OCBC Bank — “The new standalone OCBC Pay Anyone app brings together all OCBC Pay Anyone services and enhancements – peer-to peer e-payments, QR code payments and access to OCBC Pay Anyone integrated with Apple iPhone’s Siri and iMessage – into a fast and easy onestop access to e-payments.”
Control Ikea Home Smart products with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple’s Home app — Ikea — “Ikea is adding functionality to its smart lighting range by enabling people to voice control their lighting with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant and to set up and adjust lighting using Apple’s Home app and Siri voice commands. This takes Ikea one step closer to making smart home technology accessible for the many.”
Customers of Singapore’s DBS Bank and OCBC Bank will soon be able to make in-store mobile payments by scanning a QR code at any point-of-sale terminal belonging to the country’s electronic payments network Nets. More
Customers of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) can now send money using Apple’s Siri voice assistant using the latest version of the RBC Mobile iOS app... More
Dutch bank ABN Amro has launched a mobile payments app for Android using host card emulation (HCE) technology, allowing customers to make purchases up to €2,500 (US$2,659) each day with smartphones running Android 5.0 or higher... More
Apple is investigating the possibility of adding the functionality of its Siri virtual assistant to its iMessage service that would enable iPhone users to perform P2P payment transactions, a recent patent published by the US Patent and Trademark Office reveals... More
PayPal has enabled money transfers via Apple’s Siri voice command function, enabling users with iOS10 devices to make payments by speaking requests... More
Samsung is considering adding a dedicated button for an improved artificial intelligence feature for its next flagship smartphone, the Wall Street Journal reports... More
Customers of Singapore’s OCBC Bank can now send money using Apple’s Siri virtual assistant or via text using Apple’s iMessage platform... More