What's New in Payments

Apple Pay violates patents held by security technology inventor, lawsuit alleges

Apple Pay violates patents held by security technology inventor, lawsuit alleges — The New York Times — “A small Boston company, founded by the inventor of a popular corporate encryption technology called RSA SecurID, sued Apple and Visa on Sunday, arguing that the Apple Pay digital payment technology violates its patents.”


What's New in Payments

Report: 70% of financial cards have chip

Report: 70% of financial cards have chip — International Card Manufacturers Association — “Chip cards represented 88.6% of revenue for cards globally manufactured in 2016… SIM cards make up the largest dollar market at $6.53 billion and the third largest unit market at 5.4 billion cards. Financial cards make up the second largest unit market and dollar market at 5.5 billion cards and $5.1 billion.”


Researchers create a T-shirt that monitors the wearer’s breathing rate in real time

Researchers create a T-shirt that monitors the wearer’s breathing rate in real time — Université Laval — “The key to the smart T-shirt is an antenna sewn in at chest level that’s made of a hollow optical fiber coated with a thin layer of silver on its inner surface. The fiber’s exterior surface is covered in a polymer that protects it against the environment… As the wearer breathes in, the smart fiber senses the increase in both thorax circumference and the volume of air in the lungs… These changes modify some of the resonant frequency of the antenna.”


What's New in Payments

Tipping point for Apple Pay as majority of UK tills accept limitless payments

Tipping point for Apple Pay as majority of UK tills accept limitless payments — The Telegraph — “Jennifer Bailey, the head of Apple’s payments business, said over half of contactless payment terminals in the UK are now able to take Apple Pay transactions of any value. The company says Apple Pay transactions in the UK have grown by 300pc in the last year, with 23 banks now supporting the service.”


What's New in Payments

MUFG seeks to quicken cashless push with card unit buyout

MUFG seeks to quicken cashless push with card unit buyout — Nikkei — “Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group plans to turn a credit card unit into a wholly owned subsidiary and position it as a hub for new financial services such as virtual currency payment… MUFG’s move is driven by the prospect that cashless payment methods such as digital wallets and virtual currency will proliferate in Japan as financial technologies evolve.”



BBVA integrates its financial services into social and messaging networks

BBVA integrates its financial services into social and messaging networks — BBVA — “BBVA customers can now interact in Spain with the bank via social networks and instant messaging services. BBVA has developed two new tools, Chatbot and BBVA Cashup, which allow customers to access financial information via Facebook and Telegram, and also to make payments via Bizum from Whatsapp or any messaging service.”




How Coca-Cola is using smartphone data to personalise in-store ads

How Coca-Cola is using smartphone data to personalise in-store ads — Econsultancy — “The data includes anything from your basic gender or age demographic to previous browsing history. So, an ad could change from Coke Zero to Glacéau Smartwater if it recognises a preference for healthier products… Coca-Cola’s endcaps also involve communicating wirelessly with devices to send tailored offers or coupons.”


Paytm raises $1.4 billion from SoftBank to expand user base

Paytm raises $1.4 billion from SoftBank to expand user base — Bloomberg — “The funding into One97 Communications, which operates the Paytm brand, will help the startup expand its user base of 220 million and build a large offering of financial services products… Alibaba and its payments affiliate Ant Financial held a 40 percent stake in One97 before this investment.”



Govt eyes private sector access to national facial recognition service

Govt eyes private sector access to national facial recognition service — Computerworld Australia — “Within the Attorney-General’s Department there’s a view that private sector access to the government’s national facial recognition system would represent a ‘natural progression’ of its development. Andrew Rice, AGD assistant secretary, Cyber and Identity Security Branch, today said that there would be proof of concept opportunities for private sector access to the system in FY17-18.”


Android O will focus on ‘vitals’ like battery life and speed, first beta launches today

Android O will focus on ‘vitals’ like battery life and speed, first beta launches today — The Verge — “For security, Google is introducing a new feature called Google Play Protect. Google already scans apps in the Play Store to make sure they aren’t malicious, but now it’s going to make that more visible by showing that your phone’s apps have recently been scanned when you’re in the Store.”


What's New in Payments

Square will replace meters in Washington taxis

Square will replace meters in Washington taxis — Bloomberg — “The overhaul of the city’s cab system will help drivers compete with Uber… By the end of August, all of the taxis in Washington have to tear out their traditional meters and start using smartphones or tablets, in what the city government has been describing as a complete reimagining of how the cab system works.”



Sprint to support next generation IoT devices across its nationwide network

Sprint to support next generation IoT devices across its nationwide network — Sprint — “LTE Cat 1 is designed to support low-power applications on the Sprint network such as vehicle telematics and industrial IoT applications. LTE Cat M1 and LTE Cat NB1 are designed to support numerous other applications requiring ultra-low throughput and power consumption such as industrial sensors, asset trackers, or wearables.”


Rambus to demonstrate CryptoManager IoT Device Management with STMicroelectronics

Rambus to demonstrate CryptoManager IoT Device Management with STMicroelectronics — PARTNER NEWS — “Joint demonstration at IoT World showcases secure IoT device connectivity, monitoring and provisioning… Rambus and STMicroelectronics are working together to greatly simplify provisioning and device management for IoT OEMs and service providers.”


What's New in Payments

No need to schlep wallet, keys at Universal’s new water park

No need to schlep wallet, keys at Universal’s new water park — The Associated Press — “Universal is debuting a new wristband that can pay for food, open lockers, trigger special effects, set spending limits on the kids and, most importantly, eliminate waiting in lines by sending alerts when it’s your turn for a ride… Unlike Disney’s wristbands, Universal’s Tapu Tapu wristbands have screens on which visitors can get text alerts or see images, and they also vibrate.”


Disconnected experiences put customer loyalty at risk

Disconnected experiences put customer loyalty at risk — MuleSoft — “Nearly half of UK consumers (48 per cent) would be happy for banks to share their banking transaction history with a trusted third-party if it gave them a more personalised banking experience… Nearly a third (30 per cent) of UK respondents would consider using Amazon, Google, Facebook or Apple for banking services if it was offered, rather than using their standard bank.”