Europe needs to get off the sidelines — Deutsche Bundesbank — “Here in Europe, we need to prevent a situation from arising in which American and Chinese payment systems are all we have left to choose between. Highly successful firms from the United States and China are looking to carve out a huge chunk of the European market. Hence the desire to forge a payments solution with a clear-cut European ‘brand’.”
China
Vietnam tops global growth for mobile payments
Vietnam has recorded the highest growth in mobile payments in the past year, according to research by PwC... More
Jinan City metro installs face recognition at fare gates
China opens first 3D facial recognition metro line in Shandong — ECNS — “Metro Line 1 in Jinan City, Shandong Province has become the first in China to adopt 3D facial recognition technology… The 3D facial recognition technology-empowered gate can allow entry of 30 to 40 passengers per minute… The error rate is said to be only one in one million, while the technology can also detect fraudulent use of photos, videos or masks.”
Oppo enters the OEM Pay market in China
Oppo to test launch Oppo Pay in China — TechGenYZ — “Oppo will cooperate with China UnionPay to test and launch Oppo Pay. The company is trying to make contactless payments easy with the help of a transit card that is equipped with NFC in China.”
Aeon to identify customers with face recognition at 80 self-serve stores
Aeon to use facial recognition at 80 China self-serve stores — Nikkei Asian Review — “Aeon, Japan’s largest retailer by sales, will soon debut a chain of self-serve smart stores in China that can anticipate what a customer will buy upon entering the establishment… Facial recognition technology installed in the stores will identify shoppers. Customers’ smartphones will then display recommended items and coupons based on purchasing habits and digital payment history.”
Apple Pay expands to transit systems in the US
Apple is expanding its support for transit systems, enabling travellers in the US to use Apple Pay as a replacement for travel tickets... More
WeChat Pay reports 500% increase in transaction volumes
WeChat Pay supports merchants expanding businesses by bringing its ecosystem to the world — WeChat Pay — “In 2018, the monthly average transaction volume saw an increase of 500% year on year, while the total transaction value increased 400%. Meanwhile, the number of service providers witnessed a year-on-year increase [of] 300%, and the number of merchants accepting WeChat Pay increased 700%. WeChat Pay is now available in 49 markets outside of the Chinese mainland, supporting cross-border payment transactions in 16 currencies.”
Xiaomi expands its Mi Pay mobile payments service to India
Xiaomi announces official Indian launch of Mi Pay — GSMArena — “Back in 2016, Xiaomi launched Mi Pay in China and followed that up by launching a beta trial in India. Testing is finally complete and Indian users get full access to Mi Pay. The platform is built on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in collaboration with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and ICICI Bank and supports more than 120 banks.”
Shenzhen Metro tests face recognition payments
You will soon be able to pay your subway fare with your face in China — South China Morning Post — “At the Futian station, instead of presenting a ticket or scanning a QR bar code on their smartphones, commuters can scan their faces on a tablet-sized screen mounted on the entrance gate and have the fare automatically deducted from their linked accounts.”
Shanghai bus operator adds face recognition payments
SenseTime promotes traffic safety with smart automobile solutions — SenseTIme — “Passengers may register on the shuttle bus service app and submit their photo, they will then no longer have to worry about forgetting their smartphone or shuttle bus card, simply scan and go aboard, saving the hassle of waiting in queue to pay when getting on a bus.”
Safaricom signs mobile payments deal with Alibaba
Safaricom, Alibaba unit agree mobile payments partnership — Bloomberg — “The deal extends Safaricom customers’ ability to use its mobile money service, known as M-Pesa, outside Kenya as the company looks to establish the system as a global platform.”
Alibaba hotel unveils face recognition room entry
Chinese technology and retail group Alibaba has opened a hotel which uses the facial recognition biometric to secure guests’ rooms and the lifts... More
Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to launch Brics Pay mobile payment service
Five-currency basket: Brics countries create a single payment service — Izvestia (translation) — “One of the likely scenarios for the project is the creation of a special online wallet that will unite the payment systems of all the Brics countries… The common wallet will work in the same way as existing payment services, such as Apple Pay or Samsung Pay. To this end, a separate cloud platform will be created that will connect the national payment systems of the five countries.”
Chinese mobile payment adoption grows 10.7% to 583m users
China’s mobile payment users reach 583 million in 2018 — Xinhua — “About 583m people used mobile payment in China in 2018, up 10.7% compared with 2017, according to a report from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC)… About 67.2% of China’s internet users used mobile payments offline, up from 65.2% in 2017.”
NXP opens doors in China with RocketXS NFC electronic locks
NXP drives convenience in Chinese Access Market with ‘RocketXS’ — NXP — PARTNER NEWS — “The RocketXS solution allows a quick and reliable unlocking via fingerprint, Bluetooth Low Energy and NFC. It also takes convenience and security to the next level as all NFC cards in a user’s wallet (phone) can be set as a door key. This means that the real key is hidden and only the user himself knows which one is right and thus increases the difficulty of break-ins and hacking.”
Samsung Pay adds support for low-cost international remittances
Samsung Pay starts overseas remittance service in 17 countries — Pulse — “Samsung Pay users can now wire money [internationally] through their mobile phones and save in fees compared to sending money overseas via a conventional remittance route… The beta service will be available in 17 countries including the United States, China, and Japan. The company plans to gradually expand the service to other countries as well as add more partners.”
Chinese banks fight tech giants for share of mobile payments market
China UnionPay has reported an increase in the number of Chinese consumers using their bank accounts to make mobile payments... More
Chinese shopping street adopts face recognition payments
China’s first facial recognition payment-based shopping street opens in Wenzhou — ECNS — “A historical shopping street in Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, has become the first in China to extensively apply facial recognition in making payments… Mao Xinqin, director of the street’s administration, said facial recognition payments can improve efficiency during the peak season for tourism and shopping. Yang Peng, vice president of Ant Financial, said Alipay has upgraded the payment system using a 3D structured light camera and can ensure accuracy of 99.99%.”
Chinese mobile payment users set to double by 2023
Mobile payments market in China is expected to witness three-fold growth with doubling of active mobile payment users by 2023 — Frost & Sullivan — “The market of mobile payments services in China is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.8% from 2017 to 2023, growing three-fold from US$29.93 trillion to US$96.73 trillion. The total number of active mobile payment customers is expected to reach 956 million by 2023 from 562 million in 2017 which will attract additional investments from mobile payments market participants.”
Didi Chuxing expands into financial services
Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing enters financial services amid profit push — South China Morning Post — “The new offering, which Didi introduced on Wednesday, includes mutual protection and crowdfunding products for critical illnesses, credit and lending, wealth management and auto-financing services… Didi’s foray into financial services is part of its effort to build a ‘more connected ecosystem’ with reliable and competitive services, according to a company spokesman.”