Contactless payments usage has grown 30% in the UK over the past year to become the most popular card payment type for in-store transactions, Worldpay reports — and the growth is partly driven by an “astonishing” rise in consumer adoption of mobile payment services... More
Tap the past to preserve the future — National Trust for Scotland — “We’ve created beautiful replicas of a couple of the Trust’s most famous artefacts — to bring contactless to two of our historic locations. The replicas include a 200-year-old bust of Robert Burns at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Ayrshire, and a historical painting of Colonel William Gordon at Fyvie Castle in Aberdeenshire. Visitors can now simply tap their card on the artworks to make a £2 donation to the Trust and help preserve Scottish heritage for generations to come.”
PARTNER NEWS: HID Global is increasing investment in its NFC-based Trusted Tag brand protection service and expanding its network of solution providers around the world... More
M&S rolls out checkout free checkout as part of digital first strategy — Marks & Spencer — “M&S has today announced the launch of its scan and pay service, Mobile, Pay, Go, which will be available for customers in six London stores ahead of Christmas… The pacey roll out follows a successful trial of the service at Waterside Simply Food over the summer. The store now sees 20% of its sales from Mobile, Pay, Go with an average of 170 items being purchased through the app every hour.”
Earnest Labs reveals results of contactless charity donation platform Tap for Change — The Drum — “Tap For Change has transformed our fundraising… It would take years to raise the same amount from people emptying their pockets of loose change, and it would require a logistical army to collect and bank those donations. The technology has also allowed us to successfully approach high street partners where customers don’t handle cash, such as travel agents and estate agents. Those partners would have previously been reluctant to host a coin collection box.”
UK Premier League club Chelsea has added NFC tags to its third kit shirts for the forthcoming football season... More
A new survey has revealed that a significant minority of British consumers think that contactless payments lead to them losing track of their spending or laying out more than they intended... More
Leading UK football club Manchester City has released an NFC wristband that focuses on delivering team news and stats to fans... More
Skip the queue, scan and go: Sainsbury’s launches till-free shopping — Sainsbury’s — “In a UK supermarket first, Sainsbury’s is trialling new scan, pay and go technology that will enable customers in one of its busy London convenience stores to pay for products in-store using their smartphone… Using the latest version of the SmartShop app, customers visiting the Clapham North Station Local can use their smartphones to scan their shopping as they go and then pay for it through the app, from anywhere in the store, using Apple Pay.”
Rambus brings secure mobile ticketing to Scotland’s railway — Rambus — PARTNER NEWS — “Rambus’ HCE Ticket Wallet Service leverages technology proven in the payments industry to create a virtual smartcard that securely stores tickets on mobile devices. The solution integrates with existing software and station infrastructure, allowing transport operators to manage both smartcard and mobile tickets in a single system, reducing integration costs and deployment time.”
Barclays seeks twin blockchain patents for banking services — Coindesk — “The US Patent and Trademark Office published two applications by the UK’s second-largest bank Thursday, both of which revolve around account security. Perhaps most notably, however, was an application for a patent which outlined a blockchain platform which could facilitate cryptocurrency transfers. The bank also proposed streamlining know-your-customer processes by storing identifying information on a private blockchain.”
Coconut rum drinks brand Malibu is building on the lessons learned from a 2016 NFC pilot to let customers in the UK and Germany use NFC tags attached to 300,000 bottles to take part in a Malibu Games ‘Because Summer’ experience that lets them win prizes and share ‘summer moments’... More
Worldpay and Mastercard to enter new global partnership focused on innovating payments — Worldpay — “Under the partnership, Worldpay will offer the ‘Pay by Bank’ app — a new way to pay — to merchants in the UK starting in early 2019. Created by Mastercard’s Vocalink business, the ‘Pay by Bank’ app enables customers of UK businesses to make online payments for goods and services via their banking app, and directly from their bank account.”
Brits cite money saving product recommendations as the biggest incentive to use open banking — Equifax — “Two fifths (40%) of Brits willing to share their bank transaction data with a new lender would do so if it provided them with product recommendations which save them money. Other motivations to share transaction data through open banking include the ability to easily compare products from different financial institutions (36%), being offered tailored incentives for switching to a new provider (34%), and a streamlined process when applying for mortgages (28%) and loans (25%).”
New economy, new finance, new bank — Bank of England — “The Bank of England is in the midst of an ambitious rebuild of the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system — the backbone of every payment in the UK… RTGS is being re-built so that new private payment systems, including those using distributed ledger, can simply plug into our system… No longer will access to central bank money be the exclusive preserve of banks.”
Shoppers willing to spend £200 using voice commerce, study says — Internet Retailing — “A survey of more than 500 consumers across the UK reveals the average UK consumer is happy to spend in excess of £195 (US$258) in an order through voice technology, rising to £232 (US$307) in the case of shoppers over the age of 30.”
Brexit: Three ‘simple’ questions for EU citizens to stay in UK — BBC — “Applicants with Android phones will be able to download an app which can read the chip in their passport to verify their identity — and they will be able to take a ‘selfie’ that can be checked against Home Office records, said Mr Javid. But he said there was an ‘an issue at the moment’ with Apple device users, who will not be able to make use of this app, and instead will have to send in their passport to prove their identity… The home secretary said he had raised the issue with Apple on a recent visit to Silicon Valley and the company was ‘looking at it actively’.”
Convenience of debit card payments puts cash in second place — UK Finance — “The popularity of contactless payments among UK consumers is a key driver of debit card growth. In total, across both debit and credit cards, the number of contactless payments increased by 97% during 2017 to 5.6bn. Almost two thirds (63%) of people in the UK now use contactless payments, and no age group or region falls below 50% usage.”
Contactless journeys now available to view on the go via free TfL app — Transport for London — “Customers using contactless payment cards in London can now view their journey history on the go following the latest update to the free TfL Oyster and contactless app. Half of all Tube and rail ‘pay as you go’ journeys in London are now regularly made using contactless payment cards or mobile devices.”
NatWest trials new way to pay for online shopping — RBS — “The service removes the need to input long card numbers by providing customers with the option to press a NatWest button at the end of the purchase process which will take them through to their mobile app. Then the customer will login with Touch ID or their standard password before the process will complete automatically… Customers will immediately see their balance, updated in real time… In the initial trial, over half of customers chose to make their payment using the NatWest service, rather than use their card.”