Starbucks has issued a statement denying its mobile payment app has been hacked, following a report by investigative journalist Bob Sullivan... More
Archive: News in brief
Axis to make 50,000 terminals contactless in India
India’s Axis Bank is to enable all of its 50,000 merchant point-of-sale terminals to accept contactless payments by the end of this year in order to “facilitate significant usage of contactless NFC-based cards issued by all banks”... More
Face++ raises $25m for selfie payments
Face++, the Chinese facial recognition technology startup behind Alibaba’s selfie payments service, has secured an additional $25m in a series B funding round, taking the total raised to $47m... More
Apple in buy out talks with Clinkle?
Apple has reportedly been in acquisition talks with troubled mobile payments startup Clinkle amidst claims that seven of the company’s staff quit their roles last week following frustration with CEO Lucas Duplan... More
Trader Joe’s gears up for Apple Pay
US grocery chain Trader Joe’s is reportedly gearing up to begin accepting Apple Pay NFC payments in its stores... More
Samsung Wallet to close on June 30th
Samsung is to discontinue its Samsung Wallet service on 30 June 2015 as it gears up to roll out Samsung Pay later in the year... More
Google to launch mobile buy buttons?
Google is expected to add buy buttons to search results pages on mobile devices in the coming weeks that will guide consumers to product pages where they can pick sizes, colours and shipping options before completing a purchase... More
India gets PIN-free contactless payments
Contactless users in India can make payments of up to Rs2,000 (US$31) without using a PIN, following the Reserve Bank of India’s relaxation of its requirement for two-factor authentication... More
US mobile payments to hit $487bn
US mobile proximity payments will rise to US$487bn gross dollar volume (GDV) by 2020, up from $7.5bn GDV this year, Aite Group forecasts. “While mobile proximity payments will grow quickly as NFC distribution becomes universal and customers begin to use the platforms,” says author Thad Peterson, “mobile commerce will drive more transaction volume than mobile proximity payments in the next five years.”... More
Global biometrics market to hit $14.9bn by 2024
The global biometrics market will increase from US$2bn in 2015 to $14.9bn by 2024, with cumulative revenue for the 10-year period reaching $67.8bn, market intelligence firm Tractica forecasts... More
UK contactless payments up 150%
The number of contactless transactions in the UK has risen 150% in the last six months, with the average transaction now valued at £7.24, payments processor Worldpay has revealed... More
Samsung ‘paid $250m for LoopPay’
Samsung paid about US$250m to acquire LoopPay, developer of the magnetic secure transmission (MST) technology that will form a key part of Samsung Pay when it launches later this year, according to Recode... More
Denmark government aims for cashless society
The government in Denmark has proposed doing away with the obligation for retailers in the country to accept payment in cash, in an attempt to replace it with other methods such as plastic cards and mobile payments... More
iPhone 6s to include improved Touch ID
A research note published by KGI Securities’ Ming-Chi Kuo has revealed a number of changes planned for Apple’s so-called iPhone 6s, expected to be unveiled in September, including an improved Touch ID sensor which “will improve the Apple Pay experience with faster, more secure readings,” Apple Insider reports... More
Visa in talks over $20bn Visa Europe acquisition
Visa is in preliminary talks to buy former subsidiary Visa Europe in a deal that may be valued at as much as US$20bn... More
US in-store mobile payments to hit $54bn by 2019
Mobile proximity payments — those made by consumers at the physical point of sale using a mobile device — in the US will total US$54bn by 2019, Javelin Strategy and Research has projected... More
350m NFC SEs shipped in 2014
A total of 350m NFC secure elements were shipped in 2014, a 30% increase on the previous year, vendor association Eurosmart has revealed... More
Apple Pay signs up first casino resort
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas has become the first casino resort to announce support for Apple Pay... More
Samsung to use NXP SE for Chinese devices
Samsung will build NXP’s SmartMX P61N1M3 embedded secure element into versions of its Galaxy S6 destined for China, where it will be used in the Samsung Pay NFC mobile payments service... More
Tony Sabetti joins CPI as NFC lead
Industry veteran Tony Sabetti has joined CPI Card Group to lead its mobile and NFC market initiatives... More