Merchants in more than 15 countries around the world are now able to use Android NFC smartphones and tablets to accept contactless payments with no additional hardware required, Visa has announced... More
The Russian government is expected to adopt a law that will enable Russian consumers to use face and voice recognition to authenticate in-store payments in shops, cafes and other retail outlets by the end of 2020, Izvestia reports... More
Passengers on the Moscow Metro system can now use NFC-enabled Huawei and Honor smartphones to make contactless payments for their fares with Huawei Pay at every station on the Russian capital’s network, Tdaily.ru reports... More
Public transport users in Los Angeles will be able to add their TAP transit card to their iPhone or Apple Watch “this year”, LA Metro has announced... More
Visa is piloting an instalment payments service in Russia and is moving towards a commercial launch in the US, the payments network has announced... More
PARTNER NEWS: Xiaomi is to use NXP’s mWallet 2Go technology to let consumers across Europe make payments using its low-cost Mi Smart Band 4 wearable... More
Russian grocery retailer Azbuka Vkusa has converted an aisle within one of its Moscow supermarkets to a cashierless store-within-a store, enabling shoppers to use their mobile phone to check in at the entrance to the aisle, add their shopping to their basket and “simply exit when done”... More
Uralkali introduces mobile inspection system for process equipment — World Fertilizer Magazine — “The technology recognises electronic NFC (near field communication) tags on the production equipment and the inspection data is transmitted from smartphones to the database via WiFi… The technology was piloted at the Berezniki-4 plant in Russia’s Perm region, and the system is now being introduced across all of the company’s plants.”
Huawei starts its mobile wallet service Huawei Pay in Pakistan — Technology Times — “Huawei has launched its mobile wallet service Huawei Pay in Pakistan in cooperation with UnionPay International and National Bank of Pakistan, making it the fourth market where Huawei Pay has been made available, following China, Russia and Hong Kong.”
Russia’s Sberbank is launching an app for its Spasibo loyalty programme that will make it possible for customers to transfer their loyalty points to a friend or family member, either as a small gift or so they can “save up Spasibo points for a large purchase together”... More
Tinkoff super-app boosts digital leadership in European fintech space — Tinkoff — “The super-app is both our own version of the App Store, with its own mini apps, and the first WeChat-like app in the Russian or any European financial market, featuring products and services from our partners… External partners can connect to the marketplace (via open API) using the ‘app-in-app’ model and offer targeted products and services within the Tinkoff app.”
The volume of transactions made using wearable devices has seen an eightfold increase in Europe over the past 12 months, Mastercard reports, while Australia tops the list of countries where most wearable payments are now being made.... More
Presentation of the first European acquirer of the Mir card scheme at the Russian-British business forum — Roscongress — “The ability to make transactions through the Russian system will simplify payment transactions for customers of companies that offer products or services in the Russian market and, as a result, increase their turnover. For the UK, which will be the first launch country, the Mir payment system opens up access to the Russian consumer market.”
China remains the country with by far the highest mobile payments adoption rate, with 81.1% of smartphone owners making use of the technology, eMarketer reports... More
Travellers in Russia’s capital can now use China UnionPay’s Quickpass contactless cards or an NFC payment app connected to a Quickpass card to pay their fares at 150 Moscow Metro stations, China’s Xinhua news agency reports... More
Russia’s PSB bank has begun the country’s first pilot of dongle-free contactless payments acceptance on standard Android NFC devices. The new SoftPOS service “allows you to turn any NFC phone running Android 7.0 (and above) into a fully fledged POS terminal,” the bank says. More
Huawei rolling out new products to enhance user stickiness — Hong Kong Economic Journal — “Huawei Pay, which was launched in Hong Kong on Monday, allows users to settle bills in more than 40,000 retail spots accepting the UnionPay contactless card payment… Earlier this year, Huawei Pay was launched outside China for the first time. In Russia, 66 banks are now supporting the technology. Both Huawei and Honor smartphones will carry the new service, which is compatible with 20 mobile devices, including several smartwatches.”
Russia is planning a global rollout for its Mir cards, the card payment system it launched in 2015... More
Apple is expanding its support for transit systems, enabling travellers in the US to use Apple Pay as a replacement for travel tickets... More
National Payment Card System (NSPK), operator of Russia’s Mir domestic payments network, has begun rolling out support for Android NFC mobile payments... More