Google is testing a service called Plaso “that allows people carrying Android phones to pay at retailers like Papa John’s and Panera Bread by saying their initials to employees at the cash register,” The Information reports, citing “four people who have been involved in or briefed about it.” The pilot has been live since “last fall”... More
Archive: News in brief
India moves to mobile payments
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has published the first draft of a specification that will be used to introduce an electronic payments system that leverages both mobile payments and Aadhaar, India’s biometrics-based ID system... More
BBVA joins Apple Pay
BBVA Compass cardholders in the US can now add their cards to Apple Pay as the bank has become the latest to join more than 60 banks in supporting the mobile payments service... More
JetBlue to accept Apple Pay
JetBlue Airways is to become the first major US domestic carrier to accept Apple Pay for onboard purchases such as food and drink... More
Mozido buys PayEase
Mobile payments platform provider Mozido has acquired Chinese cross-border payment gateway provider PayEase with the aim of introducing its mobile payments and retail marketing solutions into the Chinese market... More
Generation Z prefers biometrics to passwords
Three quarters (76%) of the UK’s “Generation Z” consumers — aged between 16 and 24 — say they would feel comfortable making a payment using biometric security, a survey conducted by Opinion Matters for Visa Europe has revealed, and 69% believe it would make their lives faster and easier... More
Swatch to launch NFC smartwatch
Swiss watchmaker Swatch Group is to launch a smartwatch that includes NFC and mobile payments capabilities and works with both Android and Windows phones, CEO Nick Hayek has told Bloomberg... More
Du backs Beam QR wallet
Mobile network operator Du has formed a partnership with mobile payment service Beam Wallet and Majid Al Futtaim Ventures to promote Beam’s QR code solution to retailers and petrol stations across Dubai... More
Apple Pay now live at more than 60 banks
Apple has added more than a dozen new banks to its list of institutions that now support Apple Pay, bringing the total count to more than 60, 9to5mac reports... More
NFC security strategies: webinar slides now available
The slides from NFC World’s recent Evaluating NFC Security Strategies webinar are now available in the NFC World Knowledge Centre... More
PayPal curtails in-store ambitions
The team working on PayPal’s move into in-store payments has been among the hardest hit by layoffs across parent Ebay Inc’s three divisions, Re/code reports, adding that “PayPal’s in-store initiatives, which includes mobile payments and a credit card reader called PayPal Here, have largely been viewed as big disappointments inside the company”... More
Visa Europe to invest in digital payments
Visa Europe is to invest more than €200m a year in new payments technologies to accelerate the growth of digital payments, the payments network has announced... More
Snapchat adopts QR friending
Photo messaging platform Snapchat is letting users add friends to their social network by scanning Snaptags, unique QR codes assigned to each user... More
One in three Millennials to use a mobile wallet in 2015
5% of US consumers currently use a mobile wallet and 18% intend to use one in the next year, credit scorer Fico’s “Millennial Banking Insights and Opportunity” survey has found, with the percentage rising to 32% among Millennials — defined as those born between 1980 and 1994... More
ATM operators report on EMV readiness
More than six in ten (61%) US ATM operators expect “the vast majority” of their network will be capable of handling EMV transactions by the end of 2016, the ATM Industry Association has revealed... More
Kaspersky debuts secure QR scanner
Antivirus and security software provider Kaspersky Lab has launched Kaspersky QR Scanner, an app that warns users of potentially dangerous links within QR codes when they scan with their mobile device... More
St Petersburg Metro to go contactless
Commuters in St Petersburg, Russia will soon be able to pay their metro fares by tapping either a contactless card or an NFC device at turnstiles equipped with MasterPass technology... More
NJ Transit expands mobile ticketing app
NJ Transit has expanded availability of its MyTix mobile ticketing app to interstate routes between New Jersey and New York City after launching in South Jersey last year... More
Dynamic mag stripe card Swyp goes on pre-order
Start-up Qvivr has begun taking pre-orders for Swyp, a US$49 dynamic magnetic stripe card that uses Bluetooth LE, incorporates buttons and a display and works in conjunction with a smartphone app to emulate up to 25 credit, debit, gift or loyalty cards... More
One in four online transactions are now mobile
Over a quarter (25.8%) of the world’s online transactions now take place on a mobile device, up from 23.3% in the third quarter of 2014 and 37% up on the 18.8% recorded in the fourth quarter of 2013, Adyen’s quarterly Mobile Payments Index has revealed... More