Westpac taps into voice technology with Amazon Alexa Skill — Westpac — “Westpac customers can now access their account balance, recent spending history, and reward points status with Alexa… Westpac customers who have enabled the skill and linked to their Westpac account can ask a range of questions relating to their account balance and last 50 transactions.”
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Ride-hailing app Grab acquires mobile payments startup iKaaz
Grab announces acquisition of Bangalore-based payments startup iKaaz — Grab — “The rich functionality of iKaaz’ mobile payments platform and its experienced leadership team will accelerate feature development and partner integration of GrabPay, Grab’s payments platform. Already Southeast Asia’s #1 ride-hailing platform, Grab is expanding across all markets in Southeast Asia in 2018 with the goal of becoming the region’s universal payments platform.”
Starbucks tests cashless store concept in Seattle
Starbucks tests no-cash policy at downtown Seattle store — Seattle Times — “Starbucks is experimenting with refusing cash at a posh location in downtown Seattle… ‘The test will help us understand how cashless forms of payment may impact our customer experience,’ the spokeswoman said.”
Wells Fargo adds support for Fitbit Pay
Wells Fargo announces support for Fitbit Pay — Wells Fargo — “Wells Fargo is partnering with Fitbit, the leading global wearables brand, to launch Fitbit Pay to its customers, giving them the ability to conveniently and securely make purchases at merchants whose payment terminals are set up to accept near-field communication (NFC) payments.”
Apple details Apple Pay Cash in updated iOS Security guide
iOS Security — Apple — “When you set up Apple Pay Cash, the same information as when you add a credit or debit card may be shared with our partner bank Green Dot Bank and with Apple Payments Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary created to protect your privacy by storing and processing information separately from the rest of Apple and in a way that the rest of Apple doesn’t know.”
India to add face recognition to Aadhaar biometric ID system
Now, face recognition to authenticate Aadhaar, but with biometrics or OTP — Times of India — “To be made available by July 1, the face authentication option will be allowed in combination with fingerprints, or iris scans, or an OTP to verify the details of Aadhaar users… Face authentication will not require any new reference data as photos of citizens are already on the Aadhaar database.”
Bank of America reports 84% rise in P2P payment transactions
Zelle takes cashless payments to new heights — Bank of America — “Bank of America saw total Zelle transactions for 2017 hit nearly 68 million, an 84% growth rate from the previous year. In Q4 alone, Bank of America processed over 23 million transactions, totaling nearly US$7bn, up 91% from the prior year… Currently, Bank of America has nearly three million active Zelle users, and continues to add thousands of new users every day.”
One in five Brits to make mobile payments in stores this year
UK: Mobile payments still looking to grab a foothold — eMarketer — “Just over 22% of UK smartphone users will use a phone to pay for goods and services at the point of sale (POS) in 2018… China has the largest mobile proximity payments market in the world, with 77.5% of smartphone users doing so this year. Within Europe, the UK’s smartphone penetration rate will rank behind Norway (23.3%), Sweden (33.8%) and Denmark (38.9%) in 2018.”
Rabobank includes value added services in HCE mobile wallet
G+D Mobile Security supports Rabobank in launching a sophisticated and secure mobile payment solution — Giesecke & Devrient — “With the new solution, more Rabobank customers can use the mobile payment service since it no longer requires a special kind of SIM card. Furthermore, mobile payment is only one of the services provided: current value-added services in the Rabo Wallet include parking and customer shop and loyalty card storage solutions.”
Messaging service Line looks to cryptocurrencies for payments
Line explores cryptocurrencies for payment services, sources say — Bloomberg — “The messaging provider is in discussions with multiple companies on using cryptocurrencies for payment services including Line Pay, said the people, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public. The broader goal is to create products that keep users within Line’s ecosystem and keep them coming back to the app, increasing ‘stickiness,’ they said.”
Paytm adds investment and wealth management service
We have set up Paytm Money to focus on investment and wealth management — Paytm — “We are fast evolving from being a pioneer in digital payments to becoming a full-stack financial services company, which offers banking, lending, insurance, and payments. With Paytm Money, we will cover the entire spectrum of wealth management and plan to add more investment offerings going forward.”
India adds tokenization to Aadhaar national biometric ID system
Aadhaar adds fresh security layer with 16-digit ‘Virtual ID’ — Times of India — “UIDAI’s Virtual ID, which will be issued from March, will allow over 119 crore [1.19bn] Aadhaar holders to generate a 16-digit temporary number that can be shared with a bank, insurance company or telecom service provider instead of the 12-digit Aadhaar number. All service providers will have to upgrade their systems to mandatorily allow for the new tool from June.”
TD Bank acquires artificial intelligence specialist Layer 6
TD Bank Group acquires artificial intelligence innovator Layer 6 — TD Bank — “Layer 6 adds new capabilities to TD’s growing base of innovation talent and know-how. Artificial intelligence has the potential to power a new generation of data-driven applications from personalized and real-time advice to predictive analytics that will shape the future of banking for millions of individuals.”
Taiwan to provide mobile payment adoption incentives
Taiwan outlines measures to promote mobile payment usage — Focus Taiwan — “Premier Lai Ching-te on Tuesday urged government agencies to earmark spending to subsidize transaction fees in a way that makes the use of mobile payments for in-store purchases more attractive to consumers… The government has set itself the target of 90% of mobile phone users using mobile payments by 2025, a major increase from the current level of 13%.”
Garmin unveils smartwatch for runners with built-in music and payments
Garmin introduces the Forerunner 645 Music – a GPS running watch with integrated music and Garmin Pay contactless payments — Garmin — “[Garmin] today announced the Forerunner 645 Music, a GPS running watch with integrated music that gives athletes the freedom to enjoy their favourite tunes on a run or during a workout without having to take a phone along. Additionally, when in need of a bottle of water or a quick bite to eat, Garmin Pay contactless payment solution lets users pay for purchases with their watch and keep on moving.”
Ant Financial gets central bank approval to launch mobile wallet JV in Malaysia
Touch ’n Go, Ant Financial get nod for e-wallet services — The Star — “Touch ’n Go Sdn Bhd (TNG) and partner Ant Financial Services Group have obtained Bank Negara’s approval to operate and offer mobile e-wallet services… The mobile e-wallet will be operated by TNG Digital Sdn Bhd, the joint-venture company between TNG and Ant Financial… TNG also expects its current users who are predominantly toll, transit and parking users to quickly sign on to enjoy the expanded services.”
Mastercard and Here to create in-vehicle services that combine payments and mapping
Mastercard and Here power ride towards a more connected world — Mastercard — “This partnership comes as people look to take advantage of new technologies to make purchases from the convenience of their car’s dashboard and interact with destinations in real-time… Besides further advancing connected vehicle payments, additional use cases that may be explored include mobility-as-a-service (MaaS), demand management and location-based offerings.”
Campari fridge magnets let customers order drinks via NFC
Out of Espolòn Tequila or Aperol? Touch your phone to your new Campari America refrigerator magnet to automatically order more — Campari America — “When consumers want to order or re-order their favorite Campari America brand, they simply touch their iPhone or Android smartphone to one of six available branded ‘smart’ magnets. The NFC chip embedded in the magnet then prompts Drizly to open the specific website page for that brand and gives the consumer the option to add the item to their cart and immediately check out, with the product being delivered by local retailers — all in one cohesive mobile experience.”
LG announces plans to launch its mobile payments service in the US
LG to launch mobile payment system in US by June — Yonhap — “LG Electronics Inc said Tuesday it will launch its mobile payment system in the United States during the first half of this year in time with the release of its upcoming mobile phone… Based on the Wireless Magnetic Communication technology, LG Pay allows users to make payments by touching their smartphones to regular credit card devices… LG said it is considering launching its mobile payment system as LG Wallet in the US.”
Visa, Mastercard and JCB back payment card with built-in cell phone chip
Dynamics Inc, global banks, payments networks, and telecommunications carriers unveil Wallet Card — Dynamics — “With almost 200 internal components, this Internet of Things device incorporates a number of cutting-edge technologies including: A cell phone chip and cell phone antenna so data can be transferred between Wallet Card and the bank anywhere in the world and at any time of the day; A battery and organic recharging chip so that the card charges itself through normal operation. Wallet Card can last indefinitely without the need for the consumer to perform any physical action.”