More than quarter of South Koreans use mobile payment services — The Korea Times — “The survey of 2,500 adults, conducted by the Bank of Korea (BOK) between September and October last year, showed that 26.1% of respondents had used a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet computer for payment services in the previous six months… Online purchasing was the most frequently used service through mobile devices with 86.6%, followed by offline mobile settlement with 34.7% and mobile transportation payment with 21.6%.”
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Amazon begins delivering parcels to consumers’ cars
Buckle up, Prime members: Amazon launches in-car delivery — Amazon — “Millions of Prime members with Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac and Volvo cars can now use Amazon Key to have their Amazon packages delivered inside their vehicle parked at home, work or near other locations in their address book. In-car delivery is available at no extra cost for Prime members — customers simply download the Amazon Key App, link to their connected car and start ordering on Amazon.com; no additional hardware or devices required.”
Copenhagen Business School lets students make payments with just their finger — no card or smartphone required
Pay with the touch of a finger — Nets — “Now, students and visitors at Copenhagen Business School (CBS) can leave their cash, cards and smartphones behind and buy lunch using just their finger… The payment process is very much like other contactless payments but the increased security creates one key difference — even high-value transactions do not require the extra step of PIN entry.”
Contactless payments are now used for half of all public transport journeys in London
Half of all London’s pay as you go journeys are now contactless — MayorWatch — “Figures released by Transport for London show that more than 17m contactless pay as you go journeys are now made using contactless each week, with more than 1.7bn journeys made since launch.”
Samsung Pay to go live in South Africa in June
Samsung Pay launch date for South Africa — MyBroadband — “Samsung Pay will launch in South Africa around June 2018, the CEO of Samsung Electronics Africa, Sung Yoon, has announced. Speaking on the Expresso Show, Yoon said Samsung Pay will be available this winter, but then firmed up his statement to ‘around June’.
Walmart files blockchain payments data storage patents
Walmart wants to store payment data on a blockchain — Coindesk — “Newly published patent filings from retail giant Walmart hint at a plan to store payments data using blockchain tech. The two applications — published on Thursday by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) — both reference using a blockchain-powered platform to secure the payment data, ensuring that private information can’t be access by unauthorized parties.”
Card networks to co-develop single buy button for online transactions
Shiny new button may help Visa, Mastercard and AmEx fight PayPal — Bloomberg — “Visa Inc and Mastercard Inc, the world’s largest card networks, told an industry conference they will combine their Visa Checkout and Masterpass payment options into a single button. Spokesmen for American Express Co and Discover Financial Services said their firms also will join the project… The new system will rely on Visa and Mastercard’s token technology.”
PayPal can now be used to make Samsung Pay mobile payments in US stores
Continuing to make choice a reality with Samsung Pay — PayPal — “Today, we have begun rolling out the ability for consumers to use PayPal within Samsung Pay and make purchases at the millions of retailers that accept Samsung Pay. Samsung Pay users can load their PayPal account with the debit card or bank account found in their PayPal Wallet for use in-store — all while continuing to earn Samsung Rewards points.”
Chinese province uses Alipay QR codes for citizen ID
China to launch e-ID cards for citizens via phone QR codes — Asia Times — “China requires its citizens to produce ID cards for verification when checking in at a hotel, boarding a train or plane or accessing government services. Now with the e-ID card, a user can just tap an Alipay app to show their QR code for similar verification, while leaving their wallet or physical card at home.”
Facebook to launch Messenger payments in India
Facebook ready to enter payments in India, begins beta with recharges on Messenger — FactorDaily — “Two sources in the know of the development told FactorDaily that Facebook has been quietly working on building a payments platform, which is independent of WhatsApp payments. ‘The platform will be separate from WhatsApp and will allow peer-to-peer and peer-to-merchant payments,’ said the first source.”
Walmart equips garden centre staff with mobile checkout devices
Walmart launches Check Out With Me, a new service designed to save customers time — Walmart — “A Walmart associate scans a customer’s items with the Check Out With Me mobile device, swipes their credit card and provides them with a receipt – printed or electronic options available. Customers just pay and go. It’s as simple as that.”
Chevrolet and Shell let drivers pay for fuel and access offers from their vehicles
Chevy and Shell deliver fuel payment from the comfort of the driver’s seat — Chevrolet — “Chevrolet and Shell are rolling out the automotive industry’s first embedded, in-dash fuel payment and savings experience. This new feature will allow drivers of eligible Chevrolet vehicles to pay and save directly through the touchscreen in their vehicle when they fuel up at participating Shell-branded stations, without swiping a credit card or using a mobile device.”
US supermarket chain Meijer to launch mobile self-checkout service
Meijer to launch self-scanning app to speed grocery checkout — Chicago Tribune — “The Shop & Scan service allows shoppers to scan products as they shop with a Meijer app downloaded on their phones and bag the groceries on the go. To check out, shoppers hold their phones up to a self-checkout register, then walk out the door.”
Charity to roll out contactless donation screens following successful three week pilot
Contactless donations project raises thousands for homeless in Cardiff — Wales Online — “The interactive window in the city centre allows passers-by to tap their card on the screen and donate £2 (US$2.85) to homeless charities… A total of 430 kind-hearted shoppers in Cardiff swiped their contactless cards to give money to the homeless in just three weeks… Following its success during the trial in March the Give DIFFerently campaign now hopes to roll out more contactless points across the city.”
Google’s mobile payments app has now been installed 100m times
Google Pay hits 100m installs on the Play Store — Android Police — “100m is impressive, but it may not be nearly as impressive as you’re imagining. For instance, Google Pay uses the same Play Store listing and APK pname (com.google.android.apps.walletnfcrel) as Android Pay, which Android Pay continued to use from Google Wallet. Additionally, Google Wallet/Android Pay/Google Pay has been pre-installed on quite a few devices.”
JCB to pilot biometric payment cards in Japan
JCB pilot of Japan’s first fingerprint authentication chip card — JCB — “Users first record one or more fingerprints for authentication purposes. When they want to buy something, they need only touch the fingerprint sensor on the card’s lower right corner with their finger so as to authenticate payment. The fingerprint record is only kept in the card, and given that fingerprint authentication is also done on the card, merchants do not need any further equipment to accept payment.”
Royal Bank of Canada adds support for Samsung Pay
Samsung Canada teams up with RBC to expand Samsung Pay availability to Canadians — Samsung — “This latest announcement follows the expanded Canadian availability of Samsung Pay, with RBC joining existing Samsung Pay partners including CIBC, American Express Canada, ATB Financial, Interac Debit, Mastercard, Scotiabank and Visa Canada.”
Emirates NBD rolls out blockchain security platform that adds QR codes to physical cheques
Emirates NBD leads banking sector in cheque security by successfully rolling out ‘Cheque Chain’ at scale — Emirates NBD — “Cheque Chain enables a unique QR (Quick Response) code to be printed on every leaf of newly issued cheque books. The unique code registers each cheque on the bank’s blockchain platform, ensuring that once the cheque is received and cleared under the bank’s ICCS technology, bank staff can validate the cheque’s authenticity and have access to its source at all times. In doing so, this significantly reduces the risk of fraud by making cheque forgery much more difficult.”
Google Pay expands support for transit ticketing cards to Portland
Google Pay now supports Hop Fastpass transit tickets in Portland, Oregon — Android Police — “To use Google Pay to pay for transit in Portland, users must first download the Hop Fastpass app and add money to create a virtual card. Once the virtual card is set up, holding your phone up the reader will work the same as with a regular Hop card.”
Japanese airline ANA to enter mobile payments market
Japan airline ANA aims to build digital payments business — Financial Times — “The plan is part of a broader digital push by ANA, which hopes to build on data collected from the 31m users of its airline miles to provide a range of services including real estate, insurance and health to consumers across Japan… ‘We are aiming for ANA’s version of Alibaba’s Alipay,’ Shinya Katanozaka, ANA’s chief executive, said in an interview.”