UnionPay takes mobile payment services fight to Alibaba and Tencent with integrated app — South China Morning Post — “UnionPay said the app could be linked to more than one bank account by different banks with all of their mobile payment services accepted and conducted via the platform… The country’s dominant bank card clearing service provider also launched a nationwide promotional campaign with aggressive discounts to attract consumers who have been increasingly using Alipay and Tenpay services for shopping.”
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Alipay pushes into Hong Kong, India, Thailand and the Philippines with Christmas shopping festival
Alipay to hold online 24-hour Christmas shopping festival as part of expansion push — South China Morning Post — “The event will take place in Hong Kong, India, Thailand and the Philippines with Alipay partners in each location: Hutchison in Hong Kong, Paytm in India, Truemoney in Thailand and GCash in the Philippines… As part of the December event, the AlipayHK joint venture has partnered with more than 8,000 bricks-and-mortar stores to offer exclusive gifts, discounts and rewards.”
Samsung Pay sets its sights on becoming a full service banking wallet
Samsung Pay expanding into mobile banking service — Korea Bizwire — “Samsung Electronics Co’s mobile payment system is moving to expand into the banking sector to offer more diverse services to users… ‘The mobile payment is being developed so that it will one day fully replace a person’s purse or wallet,’ a Samsung executive said.”
Visa to add sounds, animations and haptic feedback to transaction confirmations
See, hear and feel the evolution of Visa through sensory branding — Visa — “These new sound, animation and haptic (vibration) cues will help signify completed transactions in digital and physical retail environments when you pay with Visa… Visa’s sensory branding will be available as a software development kit (SDK) on the Visa Developer Platform, and through the Visa Ready program for deeper integration requirements, in 2018.”
Japanese bank to combine fingerprint and vein verification for cardless transactions at ATMs and teller windows
Mofiria provides Aeon Bank with new hybrid biometric device — Mofiria — “Aeon Bank Ltd, a Japanese new style bank, has announced that they have introduced a whole new biometrics authentication system to their ATMs and teller windows, which allows the customers to do any bank transactions without using a bank card nor entering PIN number… Aeon Bank has introduced this system to five branches for the proof of concept and they have a plan to introduce it to all branches by October 2018.”
Apple publishes video guide to using Apple Pay Cash
Apple Pay — How to send and receive money on iPhone — Apple — “Now you can easily send and receive money with Apple Pay right in Messages. Just select who you want to pay, the amount, then approve. The money arrives instantly and securely in the Wallet app.”
Visa publishes future of security roadmap
Biometrics centrepiece of new Visa security roadmap — ZDNet — “The financial services giant has launched its 2020 and beyond roadmap first in Australia, focusing initially on biometrics for payment authorisation, ‘3-D Secure’ fraud detection, and pushing the use of tokenisation.”
Six in ten card present transactions are now made with an EMV chip card
59% of card-present transactions globally use EMV chip technology — EMVCo — “58.9% of card-present contact and contactless transactions globally were EMV-enabled between July 2016 and June 2017. This represents an increase over the prior year, when 42.4% of transactions were EMV-enabled… The United States experienced the largest year-over-year increase, with 31.4% of transactions being EMV-enabled, compared to 7.2% in the same period the prior year.”
Apple Pay Cash to run on Discover’s network
Discover Network enables payments for Apple’s newly launched Apple Pay Cash — Discover — “Discover announced today that transactions made with Apple’s new Apple Pay Cash card leverage the Discover Network… When Apple customers receive money on a supported device, the money is added to their new Apple Pay Cash card. They can use the money instantly to pay someone or to make purchases using Apple Pay in stores, apps and on the web.”
Samsung looks to palm recognition to secure mobile devices
Samsung’s new phones might literally read the palm of your hand — Futurism — “Recent patent filings by the South Korean electronics giant show that the company may be investing in yet another means of biometric scanning. Samsung’s palm recognition technology would join other biometrics, such as facial recognition and fingerprint scanning, along with standard passwords, pin numbers, and patterns as a means of securing your device.”
Apple explains how Apple Pay Cash will function as an electronic purse on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch
Apple Pay Cash and person to person payments now available — Apple — “Apple customers who don’t already have Apple Pay set up on their supported device can still receive money from friends and family without needing to install a new app or add a card to Wallet. When new users receive money for the first time, it’s simply added to their new Apple Pay Cash card once they accept the terms.”
One in three ‘connected consumers’ in India now use mobile payments
Kantar TNS study reveals the rise of mobile payments in India — Kantar TNS — “Mobile payments have seen a sharp rise with one in three (35%) connected consumers in India using it. The popularity of mobile payments in India is also revealed by the number of regular users, with 23% saying they use mobile payments at least once a week. The results of the study showed that India (35%) is ahead of other APAC countries like Indonesia (9%) and Philippines (7%) but has still a lot of catching up to do with the likes of China (94%) and Singapore (65%) where mobile payments have become a more regular habit.”
Garmin Pay adds support for Visa credit, debit and prepaid cards
Garmin and NXT-ID subsidiary FitPay expand Garmin Pay to Visa accountholders — Garmin and NXT-ID — “Garmin Pay is now available to Visa accountholders from numerous participating issuing banks including Bank of America, Capital One, and US Bank in the United States, and BonusCard, Cornér Bank, ANZ and NAB (National Australia Bank) internationally… Garmin Pay was initially launched in November 2017 for Mastercard accountholders.”
UK consumers split 50:50 on willingness to share personal data with banks
NCR research highlights consumer desire for innovative banking services in the UK — NCR — “Nearly half of respondents (47%) with personal bank accounts would only feel comfortable with banks collecting the bare minimum of data required to run their accounts… 49% were interested in banking loyalty programs in partnership with retailers requiring third-party data sharing. 46% were open to financial advice services that keep track of their spending information to help save money.”
EU gives payments industry 18 months to implement strong customer authentication
Payment Services Directive (PSD2): Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) enabling consumers to benefit from safer and more innovative electronic payments — European Commission — “The RTS makes strong customer authentication (SCA) the basis for accessing one’s payment account, as well as for making payments online. This means that to prove their identity users will have to provide at least two separate elements out of these three: something they know (a password or PIN code); something they own (a card, a mobile phone); and something they are (biometrics, eg fingerprint or iris scan)… The use of SCA will become mandatory 18 months after the entry into force of the RTS, ie once the RTS is published in the Official Journal of the EU, scheduled for September 2019.”
Venezuela to create a new virtual currency
Venezuela unveils virtual currency amid economic crisis — BBC News — “Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has announced the creation of a new virtual currency in a bid to ease the country’s economic crisis. He said the Petro would be backed by Venezuela’s oil, gas, gold and diamond wealth… Mr Maduro said the new cryptocurrency would allow Venezuela ‘to advance in issues of monetary sovereignty, to make financial transactions and overcome the financial blockade.'”
Google reports 12m Tez mobile payments users in India
Google for India: Building India-first products and features — Google — “Our India-first mobile payments app Tez has seen huge growth in its first 10 weeks. Tez has processed over 140m transactions from nearly 12 million active users. There are more than 525,000 merchants already on Tez, using it to take payments, pay their suppliers or transfer money to employees… In the coming weeks, Tez will start rolling out a customized experience to pay bills right in the app. More than 70 billers will be supported, including utilities and direct-to-home service providers.”
US consumers ready to share purchasing data with financial services AIs
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.”
Target adds mobile payments, coupons and rewards to mobile app
Target launches Wallet in the Target app: A faster, easier way to pay and save — Target — “With Wallet, guests can pay using their Target REDcard and save with Cartwheel — all in a single scan of their phones at checkout… Wallet combines digital savings — Cartwheel offers and Weekly Ad coupons — with the 5% REDcard discount. And, coming soon, guests also will be able to store and redeem Target GiftCards with Wallet.”
World’s thinnest smartwatch to include support for multiple NFC services
Fidesmo and Haikara collaborate on the future of smartwatches — Fidesmo — “Haikara is the world’s thinnest smartwatch that lasts for up to a week on one charge. It allows you to change your watch face to match your outfit and mood, and it looks great on your wrist. By using Fidesmo’s platform Haikara will enable their customers to pay, access their office building or use public transport.”