A Google Play Services v10.0 APK teardown conducted by Android Police has revealed Google may be adding support for NFC payments through Android Pay to its Android Wear 2.0 smartwatch update... More
Smartwatch
Samsung Pay opens pairing for Gear S3 smartwatch
Samsung Pay will be supported on Samsung’s Gear S3 Classic and Gear S3 Frontier smartwatches without having to be paired with a Samsung smartphone... More
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
Mobile payments and IoT trends for smartwatches
Internet of things, monitoring for insurance and mobile wallet expansion are three of the key emerging smartwatch app trends found in research by Parks Associates... More
FNB launches NFC mobile payments
Customers of First National Bank (FNB) can now make NFC mobile payments using the latest version of the financial institution’s mobile banking app... More
Gear S3 smartwatch comes with Samsung Pay
Samsung has unveiled its latest smartwatch, the Samsung Gear S3, which includes support for Samsung Pay... More
Samsung Pay Beta goes live on Gear S2
An update to the Samsung Gear app is adding access to Samsung Pay for the Gear S2 smartwatch... More
Mobvoi to add NFC payments to smartwatches in China
Owners of Mobvoi’s Ticwatch will soon be able to make NFC payments at contactless terminals across China as the result of a partnership between the smartwatch maker, China UnionPay (CUP) and Oberthur Technologies (OT). More
Swatch to focus on mass market smartwatches
Luxury watchmaker Swatch will focus its smartwatch activities on its plastic Swatch brand before considering the technology for its pricier models... More
Mondaine to add NFC payments to a range of luxury watches
Swiss luxury watchmaker Mondaine is to add NFC payment capability to a variety of its watches, starting with its Mondaine Helvetica No1 smartwatch, that will let wearers make payments with a tap of their wrist at any contactless enabled terminal. More
FitPay launches Kickstarter campaign to bring NFC smartstrap to market
Wearable payments company FitPay has launched a campaign on Kickstarter to crowdfund the production of an NFC payment smartstrap for the Pebble Time family of smartwatches. More
FitPay closes $3.1m round led by G&D
Wearable payments provider FitPay has closed a US$3.1m seed funding round led by Giesecke & Devrient (G&D)... More
Samsung looks into vein authentication
A patent filed by Samsung describes how a sensor on a smartwatch or other wearable device could authenticate identity by reading the user’s vein structure... More
Swatch and Visa to take Bellamy smartwatch to Rio Olympics
Visitors to this summer’s Rio 2016 Olympics will be able to use luxury watchmaker Swatch’s Bellamy NFC smartwatch to pay for event passes, according to the Financial Times... More
CaixaBank launches mobile-only bank
Spain’s CaixaBank has launched a mobile-only bank to provide banking services through mobile apps and social networks... More
MasterCard and Coin take NFC payments to wearable devices
Connected device maker Coin has partnered with MasterCard to enable NFC payments on a range of fitness bands, smartwatches and other wearable devices. Fitness wearable designers Atlas Wearables and Moov and smartwatch provider Omate are the first to implement the NFC payments technology into their products. More
Samsung Pay heads to Australia, Brazil and Singapore
Samsung is to launch its Samsung Pay mobile payment service in Australia, Brazil and Singapore, the company’s Tim Baxter has announced during a keynote at the CES show in Las Vegas. The service will also be available on the Samsung Gear S2 classic smartwatch from early this year, starting in the US. More
Four in ten US consumers have made a mobile payment
43% of US consumers have used a mobile device such as a smartphone, tablet or smartwatch to make an in-store purchase, up from 36% last year, research from location-based mobile platform Retale shows... More
Samsung Pay delays on Gear S2
Samsung Pay will not be made available on the Gear S2 smartwatch until 2016, despite reports that it would be going live on the device from November 2015... More
Half of UK shoppers think wearable payments will be commonplace within five years
More than half of UK shoppers (51%) believe that wearable devices including smartwatches, wristbands, fobs, stickers and smart clothing will be commonplace for in-store payments within two to five years, a survey by Vista Retail Support reveals... More
