Fifteen US universities have signed up to integrate their student ID cards with Google Pay, enabling staff and students to make payments and access facilities and residence halls with their Android NFC phone... More
Uber has added support for transit tickets issued by the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) to its mobile app, enabling users to buy passes from within the app and then use their smartphone to board Las Vegas bus services... More
Drivers pulling into any of more than 11,500 Exxon and Mobil gas stations across the US will be able to pay for their fuel from their vehicles from later this year, by simply saying “Alexa, pay for gas”... More
Miami-Dade County’s Department of Transportation and Public Works has rolled out support for contactless payments across its Metrobus fleet, making it possible for commuters to use contactless cards and NFC mobile phones to pay for both bus and rail fares across Miami, the sixth most densely populated city in the US... More
SEPTA, the transportation authority for the Greater Philadelphia region in the US, is to add support for Google Pay and Apple Pay across its network of subway, rail, trolley and bus services from the “spring or early summer” of 2020... More
MTA expands Omny to Penn Station — New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority — “The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced today that its cutting-edge Omny contactless fare payment system is now available at the 34 St-Penn Station intermodal complex, one of the busiest transit hubs in North America… The news comes hot on the heels of another major milestone: the recent surpassing of 4m taps, far exceeding even the most optimistic usage projections.”
Starting some time next year, you can tap into Metro with an IPhone — DCist — “The service will be available on Apple products first, but a Google spokesperson confirms that the company is also working with Metro to launch a mobile card for Android users in 2020… Once Apple turns on the service, it will be available to use at every station, on every bus, and in every parking garage on the system — anywhere SmarTrip can be used.”
Retailers don’t like paying the fees for your Apple Card — Bloomberg — “The card, marketed by Apple and backed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc, is designated ‘elite’, which allows it to levy significantly higher interchange fees on each swipe or tap… The cards have long irked retailers. They have no choice but to pay the higher fees for elite plastic if they want to accept any of a network’s credit cards.”
Passengers flying on international American Airlines flights can now use an NFC passport checking function integrated into the airline’s mobile apps “to head directly to the gate for international flights without having their passports rechecked by a customer service agent”... More
JPMorgan Chase, Envestnet l Yodlee sign agreement to increase customers’ control of their data — JPMorgan Chase & Co — “Envestnet I Yodlee is committing to send 100% of its requests for Chase customer data through the bank’s secure API (application programming interface). This will ensure the apps can receive Chase customer data they need while customers control what’s shared with whom…. Because the secure API uses a token-based approach, customers will no longer need to give out their username and password.”
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
Discover and PayPal collaboration gives cardmembers new way to redeem rewards — Discover Financial Services — “Discover cardmembers can now use their Cashback Bonus or Miles to pay for purchases at millions of online stores through PayPal… Once cardmembers link their Discover card with PayPal, they can instantly redeem any amount of their rewards on eligible purchases at checkout.”
Olo and pilot brands experiment with in-car ordering trial — Olo — “The online ordering experience is designed for easy pre-configuration of orders, making saved favorites and repeat orders easy. Trial participants can order and pay with the push of a button and follow driving directions to pick up their orders… Nekter Juice Bar and Portillo’s Hot Dogs are the first live brands to participate in the in-car ordering pilot.”
Scientists at Northwestern University in the USA have unveiled a prototype ‘epidermal VR’ patch that is powered by NFC and holds the promise of enabling sensory feedback to be added to a wide range of gaming, entertainment, communication and medical applications... More
Netherlands-based supermarket giant Ahold Delhaize has opened Lunchbox, a low-cost cashierless store that lets consumers “shop a small format store in seconds by scanning in, shopping and walking out”... More
Ibotta Holiday Shopping and Mobile Payments Study — Ibotta — “Of the 61% of survey respondents who have used their phones to make an in-store purchase, 63% are motivated by payment methods that offer rewards, rebates and cash back, while 55% would be inclined to adopt mobile payments if the solutions saved them money… More than half (52%) of these shoppers say they feel overwhelmed by the large number of mobile payments and rewards programmes.”
New York’s Omny contactless fare system is to undergo “a blitz phase of installations that will bring the popular new contactless fare payment system to all 472 stations as well as all MTA bus routes by the end of next year,” the city’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has announced... More
Bank of America updates Android app to support Pixel 4 face unlock — 9to5Google — “Release notes for version 8.3.11 of Bank of America for Android prominently mentions the ‘Ability to sign in with face unlock (Pixel 4 only)’… After updating, you’ll need to enter your password one more time, and select the ‘Set up biometric sign-in’ checkbox. After completing BofA’s process, Pixel 4 face unlock will work on all subsequent sign-in attempts.”
US consumers will be able to start signing up for checking accounts from within Google Pay in mid-2020, Google has told the Credit Union National Association (CUNA)... More
Google is to begin offering checking accounts to consumers from next year, in partnership with banks and credit unions, according to The Wall Street Journal... More