Spain’s CaixaBank has launched a mobile-only bank to provide banking services through mobile apps and social networks... More
Wearables
Samsung unveils Smart Swing golf wear with NFC
Samsung’s fashion division has developed a t-shirt designed for golfers that comes equipped with an NFC chip in its sleeve. When tapped with an NFC device, the chip launches a mobile app that provides the golfer with information about the course they’re playing on. More
NXP to showcase NFC and IoT technologies in 86 cities around the world
PARTNER NEWS: NXP is to showcase NFC and the Internet of Things (IoT) in a world tour that includes stops in 86 cities. The Smarter World Tour “is a highly visible, 36 tons, 2 levels, fully mobile semi-truck trailer designed by Luigi Colani which turns into a large and spacious mobile tradeshow,” NXP says. More
Maybank offers payment wristband in Malaysia
Customers of Malaysia’s Maybank can now make purchases using a Maybank Visa Payband developed by the bank in partnership with Visa... More
Wi-Fi Alliance polishes HaLow for IoT connectivity
The Wi-Fi Alliance is extending its support for the internet of things (IoT) market with a new brand name for products incorporating low power, long range IEEE 802.11ah technology... More
Broadcom NFC controller offers faster HCE transactions
Broadcom has unveiled an NFC controller with a new capability called Virtual Execution Environment (VEE) that “reduces HCE transactions to half their time, improves security without the need for a secure element and can perform transactions with the host off so users can still make a transaction when their device is powered off.” The new BCM20797 controller also features a smaller footprint, making it suitable for both mobile devices and wearables, Broadcom says... 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
NXP unveils NFC frontend for contactless payment readers
PARTNER NEWS: NXP has launched a new NFC frontend for contactless payment readers that simplifies the work needed to gain certification and delivers four times more output power than its previous model... More
UK contactless spending volumes rise sharply following increase in transaction limit
Contactless transaction volumes have risen sharply since the UK transaction limit increased from £20 (US$30) to £30 (US$46) in September 2015, research from Barclaycard reveals. Service stations, pubs and bars, supermarkets and fast food outlets have seen the biggest increases. More
Apple Pay to go live in China in early 2016
Apple Pay will launch in China in early 2016 through a partnership with bank card association China UnionPay and with support from 15 of the country’s banks... More
Santa’s little helpers adopt NFC technology
PARTNER NEWS: Children visiting Santa’s Grotto in Blarney Woollen Mills, Ireland, are being given NFC wristbands that are pre-encoded with information provided by their parents. As the child approaches the grotto, the wristband gets scanned by an elf and Santa’s “naughty or nice” book is automatically updated with the information so that he can talk to the children on a personal level. More
Half of consumers expect to be making mobile and wearable payments by 2018
Half of consumers in mature markets including North America, Japan and parts of Western Europe expect to be using smartphones or wearables to make payments by 2018, research from Gartner shows... More
US startup raises funds for NFC necklace
A US startup is raising funds on Kickstarter for its first production run of Lockett, a customisable necklace that can be tapped with an NFC phone to retrieve personal photos, videos and messages... More
Developers unveil electronic tattoos for payments and healthcare
Creative studio Chaotic Moon has demonstrated a concept it calls Tech Tats, tattoo-like formations of components and conductive paint that create an electronic circuit which adheres to the wearer’s skin. The temporary tattoos include a microprocessor and the company envisages them performing tasks such as health monitoring or making payments. 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
Air New Zealand gives children NFC wristbands to track their journey
Children travelling alone on Air New Zealand services will now receive an NFC Airband wristband that gets scanned at key points in their journey and triggers text notifications to up to five nominated contacts. More
Swatch confirms payment watch launch in US, Switzerland and Brazil
Swiss luxury watchmaker Swatch has confirmed that it has signed an agreement with Visa and Visa Europe to enable eligible cardholders in the US, Switzerland and Brazil to tap and pay with the Swatch Bellamy watch. More
Swatch partners with Visa to roll out NFC payment watch in US and Switzerland
Luxury watchmaker Swatch has signed a contract with Visa to roll out its Bellamy NFC payment watch following its debut in China in October 2015... More
Smartwatches to play key role in mobile banking
Smartwatches will be used to access banking apps 10m times in 2017, rising to more than 100m times by 2020, Juniper Research predicts... More