BMW rolls out UWB digital car keys for Android devices

BMW car with inset of a UWB digital car key on an Android device

Android users with a Samsung Galaxy 23+ or Google Pixel 7 Pro smartphone can now lock, unlock and start compatible BMW vehicles using the car manufacturer’s ultra wideband (UWB) Digital Car Key Plus without needing to take their mobile device out of their pocket or bag... More




First Abu Dhabi Bank brings biometric credit cards to the UAE

First Abu Dhabi Bank Share biometric credit card

Customers of First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) in the United Arab Emirates can now apply for a biometric credit card — the first to be launched in the country — that enables users to verify both contact and contactless payments with their fingerprint and earn reward points that they can redeem at more than 3,500 locations across the UAE... More


People’s Bank of China reports on digital yuan uptake

Peoples Bank of China logo

The digital yuan has been used to make 360m transactions worth a total of more than 100bn yuan (US$14bn) since China began piloting the central bank digital currency (CBDC) in December 2019, up from total cumulative transaction values worth 87.6bn yuan (US$12bn) at the end of 2021, according to the People’s Bank of China (PBOC)... More


Samsung Wallet to expand to 13 more countries

Samsung Wallet on phone with person paying using mobile phone

Samsung Wallet is to roll out in Bahrain, Denmark, Finland, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Norway, Oman, Qatar, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates, enabling users to store their digital payment, loyalty, membership and identity cards, digital keys, boarding passes and other credentials on their compatible Samsung Galaxy smartphone... More




What's New in Payments

BIS reports on CBDCs in emerging markets

BIS graph showing motivations for CBDC projects in emerging market economies

Providing a cash-like digital means of payment, increasing private digital payment services, supporting financial inclusion and achieving greater payment system efficiency are among the key motivations driving initiatives to develop central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in emerging market economies around the world, according to a Bank for International Settlements (BIS) report... More






What's New in Payments

Emirates NBD records 34m contactless transactions during eight-week rewards programme

Emirates NBD logo

Customers of Emirates NBD bank in the United Arab Emirates completed 34m contactless transactions during eight weeks of the bank’s ‘Get Together. Go Contactless’ promotion. “The ‘Get Together. Go Contactless’ campaign has accelerated the adoption of contactless payments substantially,” the bank says. More


What's New in Payments

Two in three consumers worldwide say Covid-19 has permanently changed the way they pay

Visa graph showing that two in three consumers expect retailers to accept contactless payments

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