Churchgoers in England will begin trialling contactless donations in 40 churches across the country this summer, as the Church of England announces plans to roll out contactless handheld terminals to process card payments for donations as a replacement for loose change... More
Testing
ABN Amro pilots wearable payments with select customers
A select group of ABN Amro customers has begun piloting payments using NFC-enabled rings supplied by Kerv and smartwatches... More
Chinese satellite relays a quantum signal between cities
Chinese satellite relays a quantum signal between cities — Wired — “This experiment was a crucial test for a budding technology called quantum cryptography, which uses quantum particles like photons to send secure information… Researchers like Lu and his colleagues think quantum cryptography could be the encryption tool of the future.”
Barclaycard trials shopping app that lets customers use their smartphone as ‘pocket checkout’
Employees at UK bank Barclays and Barclaycard’s London office have begun piloting a new payment concept that allows them to buy low-value goods in the staff restaurant by scanning the barcode on the items using their smartphone and completing the purchase “with a single click” without needing to visit the physical checkout. More
Public-private sector digital currency experiment releases results of phase II
Public-private sector digital currency experiment releases results of phase II — Payments Canada — “The Bank of Canada, along with Payments Canada, R3 and seven commercial banks, today disclosed the results of phase II of Project Jasper, an experimental wholesale interbank payment system, using digital ledger technology (DLT)… The results show that, despite progress made, underpinning an entire wholesale payments system with DLT still faces many hurdles.”
Google and Stripe eye a slice of UPI pie in India
Google and Stripe eye a slice of UPI pie in India — Economic Times — “Google is preparing to introduce its digital wallet, Android Pay, in India this year, anchoring the platform to the government-backed Unified Payments Interface as are other global companies including Stripe and WhatsApp… Google has started testing UPI on its Android Pay platform, said one person aware of the developments.”
Samsung says iris scanner hack could “only have been made under a rare combination of circumstances”
Samsung has responded to the group of hackers from the Chaos Computer Club (CCC) who managed to defeat the iris recognition system on the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphones, saying that the hackers’ claims could “only have been made under a rare combination of circumstances”. More
Antelop Solutions: Why securing NFC mobile payments requires a comprehensive approach
Obtaining Mastercard and Visa security compliance and keeping in line with the payment ecosystem’s best practices will help to “reinforce” host card emulation (HCE) security levels and minimise the success rates of hacking attempts, says HCE and tokenization provider Antelop Solutions. More
CSOB: Why HCE was the right choice for a mobile wallet that goes beyond payments
Open communication and the right education for customers is key to the successful deployment of a host card emulation (HCE) based mobile payment service in a country where new banks — with their simple products and new communication style — are becoming more attractive to the younger generation, says Czech bank CSOB’s innovation manager. More
UK restaurant chains test digital mobile banking receipts tied to customer purchases
Restaurant chains Eat and Bel-Air are piloting a service in their London locations that delivers real-time receipts to a customer’s mobile banking app by linking to the purchases they make using their bank cards at the retailer’s point-of-sale terminal. The service is also being trialled by UK challenger bank Monzo. More
Mastercard tests biometric payments card in South Africa
Employees at Pick n Pay supermarket stores and Absa Bank staff across South Africa have been trialling a biometric card developed by Mastercard that lets them make a payment at any EMV terminal and authenticate the transaction by placing their finger on the embedded sensor. Additional trials are planned over the next few months, with a full roll out expected “later this year”. More
Lloyds to trial biometrics for online banking
Customers of Lloyds Banking Group across the UK will soon be able to log into their online banking accounts using fingerprint or facial recognition through Microsoft’s Windows Hello biometric authentication technology. The banking group is to trial the solution with Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland customers with Windows 10 devices in the second half of this year. More
Boston Fed calls for clearer value proposition to encourage mobile payments
The value proposition for using mobile payments must be clearly stated to customers in order to change their behaviour from using plastic cards to mobile phones, says the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston following the completion of a research project that tested four mobile wallet models including NFC and QR codes... More
LG to launch mobile payments service using magnetic communication technology
LG will launch its LG Pay mobile payments service in Korea in June this year using a mobile payment technology that works by “generating a magnetic signal from a mobile device such as a smartphone, and paying it to a general credit card terminal”. More
Canadian banks to test blockchain digital identity network for consumers
A blockchain-based digital identity network that will let Canadians verify their identity to organisations of their choice and access services such as new bank accounts, driving licenses or utilities using a mobile app is now undergoing testing ahead of a planned launch later this year. The service is backed by a group of Canadian banks that includes BMO, CIBC, Desjardins, RBC, Scotiabank and TD. More
NXP reveals secure element and NFC solution that speeds transaction times, increases security and supports smaller form factors
PARTNER NEWS: A new embedded secure element and NFC solution from NXP will make it possible for mobile transactions to be conducted at the same speed as contactless card transactions... More
WhatsApp tests NFC for group invites
Social messaging service WhatsApp has begun testing a service that enables users to send group invites and join a group chat via links, NFC or QR codes... More
Square preparing for European launch
Mobile POS provider Square has incorporated a business called Squareup Europe in the UK, suggesting that the company could be setting itself up for its first European launch... More
Safaricom pilots M-Pesa NFC cards
Kenyan carrier Safaricom is testing a new PIN-based NFC-enabled ‘Tap-and-Go’ card for its M-Pesa mobile money service... More
CVS tests Apple Pay
US pharmacy chain CVS is testing support for Apple Pay and is “evaluating” mobile payment options, according to AppleInsider... More