Mercedes-Benz and BP have completed a trial of an app-based digital in-truck fuel payment system that allows haulage drivers to pay without leaving their vehicle or using a fuel payment card... More
Germany
Two in three consumers worldwide say Covid-19 has permanently changed the way they pay
Just over two-thirds of consumers globally (67%) now expect bricks-and-mortar retail stores to accept contactless payments and just under half (44%) wouldn’t shop at a store that only offers payment methods that require contact with a cashier or shared device, a survey of merchants and consumers in nine countries around the world has found... More
Survey: ‘Growing number’ of Europeans support creation of national digital currencies independently of EU
A “growing number” of Europeans would support the creation of national digital currencies with the specific aim of asserting “some monetary independence” from the European Union, according to a survey commissioned by Euronews... More
More than three quarters of cashless transactions in Germany, Austria and Switzerland are now contactless
More than three in four cashless payments made in Germany (77%), Austria (80%) and Switzerland (82%) are now contactless — a rise of more than 35 percentage points from an average of 40% across the three countries in June 2019, according to figures published by Nordic payments processor Nets... More
Three in four Germans want cashless payment options at every point of sale
Three quarters of German consumers (74%) want to be able to make digital payments at all shops, restaurants and other retail outlets, with that percentage rising to 87% among 18- to 29-year-olds, according to a survey by the Bitkom digital association... More
Germany and Spain to test cross-border digital identity ecosystem
The governments of Germany and Spain have signed a memorandum of agreement to cooperate on the design, development and piloting of a cross-border digital identity ecosystem that will enable citizens to verify their identity and access digital services in both countries... More
Belgian railways trial ‘check in check out’ app-based fare payments
Belgian railway operator SNCB is to pilot an automated app-based ticketing system that uses geolocation technology to track a passenger’s journey and then calculates the fare and charges the passenger via the app after that journey is completed... More
Australian public hearing considers case for regulatory controls to ensure payment apps get access to smartphone NFC technology
An Australian parliamentary committee has held a public hearing at which it heard evidence from representatives of leading Australian banks, payment services providers and other financial bodies on regulatory issues including whether companies such as Apple should be mandated to allow third-party payment apps access to a smartphone’s NFC chip... More
Estonia’s central bank tests blockchain-powered digital euro solution
Eesti Pank, the central bank of Estonia, has tested a blockchain-powered technical solution for the use of a digital euro central bank digital currency (CBDC) that it says is capable of handling more than 300,000 simultaneous payments a second and enables payees to receive a payment in less than two seconds... More
Juniper forecasts contactless card transactions will total US$2.5tn globally in 2021
The total value of contactless card transactions worldwide will reach US$2.5tn in 2021, up from US$1.7tn in 2020, Juniper Research predicts. The researchers also forecast that card payments will retain “the majority share of overall contactless transaction values at 79% in 2021”. More
Swiss mobile payments provider to roll out cross-border payments in 2022
Swiss consumers with a Twint digital wallet will be able to make digital payments with their credit card or directly from their bank account in other European countries from 2022, the Swiss mobile payments service says... More
EU Digital Covid Certificate goes live in seven European countries
Seven European countries — Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece and Poland — have begun issuing the European Union’s Digital Covid Certificate one month ahead of the full 1 July rollout announced last week... More
German savings banks trial digital receipts for NFC smartphone users
Consumers in the Cologne-Bonn area of Germany will soon be able to receive digital receipts on their NFC smartphone for in-store purchases at merchants taking part in a pilot of a new digital receipt service being launched by the Sparkasse group of savings banks... More
German supermarket to trial anonymous checkout-free shopping
Customers at a supermarket in the German city of Cologne owned by retail giant Rewe will soon be able to enter the store by scanning a QR code, selecting the items they wish to buy and paying for them from their mobile phone without needing to scan their purchases or use a checkout... More
European banks invest €30m in EU rival to Visa and Mastercard
The banks and other institutions backing the development of a unified payment systems for merchants and consumers across Europe have so far invested €30m in the European Payments Initiative, EPI chair Joachim Schmalzl has revealed... More
Aion Bank onboards personal and business customers via NFC
Consumers, retailers and other business customers can now remotely verify their identity when opening an account or applying for a loan with Belgium-based Aion Bank by scanning the contactless chip embedded in an ID document with their NFC smartphone or other mobile device and validating the information via a facial recognition check... More
German savings banks roll out contactless card acceptance on standard NFC phones
Merchants in Germany can now accept PIN-free contactless payments on their Android NFC smartphone without needing extra acceptance technology using a software point of sale (sPOS) solution launched by the Sparkasse group of savings banks... More
Visa reports 1bn extra contactless transactions in Europe since payment limit rises
Visa has processed 1bn additional PIN-less, touch-free payments since 29 countries across Europe increased contactless transaction limits in response to the Covid-19 pandemic last year, the card network reports... More
Mercedes rolls out contactless in-vehicle fuel payments in Germany
Mercedes drivers in Germany can now make contactless in-car payments for fuel directly from their Mercedes me app or via their vehicle’s infotainment system using the luxury car maker’s new Fuel & Pay digital payments service... More
Huawei Pay goes live in Pakistan
Customers of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) with a compatible smartphone can now add their UnionPay International (UPI) virtual card to a Huawei Pay digital wallet and use it to make NFC or QR code-enabled mobile payments... More