Amazon serves up new benefit for Prime members at Whole Foods Market — Amazon — “Prime members can now get an additional 10% off sale items, typically hundreds of products throughout the store, plus weekly deep discounts on select best-selling items… To get started, customers download the Whole Foods Market app, sign in with their Amazon account and then scan the app’s Prime Code at checkout. Or, customers can opt in to use their phone number to save at checkout.”
USA
Walmart cancels its scan-and-go payments pilot due to ‘low adoption’
Phasing out the checkout line: Retailers race to make shopping more seamless — CBC — “Walmart has abandoned mobile scan-and-go shopping at its US stores… The retailer rolled out the test project in about 120 US locations starting this past August. Walmart spokesperson Ragan Dickens said in an interview this week that scan and go had a ‘low adoption rate’.”
Amazon to open cashierless stores in Chicago and San Francisco
Amazon will open checkout-free stores in Chicago and San Francisco — Engadget — “Amazon has posted job listings for store managers in both Chicago and San Francisco, making it clear where the automated stores are headed next… Amazon has a building permit for a store in Chicago’s Loop, while a San Francisco Chronicle report claimed that a store would open near Union Square. An earlier Recode scoop asserted that Amazon would open as many as six more stores in 2018, with one possibly coming to Los Angeles.”
Wells Fargo makes it easier for customers to access popular mobile payments services
Wells Fargo reimagines mobile experience with ‘Pay with Wells Fargo’ — Wells Fargo — “Today Wells Fargo & Company announced Pay with Wells Fargo, which will bring to the app’s home screen an option for customers to conveniently select their most commonly used payment features like Zelle, mobile wallets, card-free ATM access code and transfers, even before signing into the app… Longer-term features of Pay with Wells Fargo will be customized based on customers’ personal usage patterns. Customers also will have the ability to customize the highlighted features themselves.”
Apple to launch Apple Pay credit card in 2019
Goldman Sachs, Apple team up on new credit card — Wall Street Journal — “Apple Inc and Goldman Sachs Group Inc are preparing to launch a new joint credit card, a move that would deepen the technology giant’s push into its customers’ wallets and mark the Wall Street firm’s first foray into plastic. The planned card would carry the Apple Pay brand and could launch early next year.”
US consumers are making fewer online purchases on their mobile phones due to ‘cumbersome payment methods’
Forrester: Mobile shopping stalls as payment hinders growth — Mobile Marketer — “Cumbersome payment methods that require too many keystrokes at checkout are impeding the adoption of commerce on mobile, where conversion rates are about half that of desktop and laptop platforms… The percentage of online US sales made on mobile phones dipped from 43% in 2016 to 36% last year… During that same time, ecommerce grew by 14%.”
Phoenix reports drop in number of US consumers making use of Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay
“Not just Apple Pay, but the two other major third party contactless wallets, Google Pay (formerly Android Pay) and Samsung Pay, are tracing a slow but definite descent in adoption among smartphone owners”, research conducted by Phoenix Marketing International has found... More
Samsung Pay adds cashback deals ‘from leading retailers’
A more holistic mobile shopping experience with Samsung services — Samsung — “In the new Cash Back section of the Samsung Pay app’s home screen, users will find a range of exclusive offers from leading retailers. When they click on the offer they want and complete a purchase through the participating merchant, the user will receive a percentage back on their purchase which they can then spend toward a purchase — anywhere they use Samsung Pay.”
US consumers report growing dissatisfaction with mobile payments services
34% of those eligible are using mobile payments, but few would recommend them — Auriemma Consulting Group — “Problems at the point of sale can prevent even the most enthusiastic Pay users from developing the habit of paying with their mobile device. This, in turn, lessens the opportunity and likelihood for recommending the service. In fact, 42% of mobile payment users wouldn’t recommend the service, up 11 points compared to last year (31%).”
Amazon begins delivering parcels to consumers’ cars
Buckle up, Prime members: Amazon launches in-car delivery — Amazon — “Millions of Prime members with Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac and Volvo cars can now use Amazon Key to have their Amazon packages delivered inside their vehicle parked at home, work or near other locations in their address book. In-car delivery is available at no extra cost for Prime members — customers simply download the Amazon Key App, link to their connected car and start ordering on Amazon.com; no additional hardware or devices required.”
Walmart files blockchain payments data storage patents
Walmart wants to store payment data on a blockchain — Coindesk — “Newly published patent filings from retail giant Walmart hint at a plan to store payments data using blockchain tech. The two applications — published on Thursday by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) — both reference using a blockchain-powered platform to secure the payment data, ensuring that private information can’t be access by unauthorized parties.”
PayPal can now be used to make Samsung Pay mobile payments in US stores
Continuing to make choice a reality with Samsung Pay — PayPal — “Today, we have begun rolling out the ability for consumers to use PayPal within Samsung Pay and make purchases at the millions of retailers that accept Samsung Pay. Samsung Pay users can load their PayPal account with the debit card or bank account found in their PayPal Wallet for use in-store — all while continuing to earn Samsung Rewards points.”
Walmart equips garden centre staff with mobile checkout devices
Walmart launches Check Out With Me, a new service designed to save customers time — Walmart — “A Walmart associate scans a customer’s items with the Check Out With Me mobile device, swipes their credit card and provides them with a receipt – printed or electronic options available. Customers just pay and go. It’s as simple as that.”
Chevrolet and Shell let drivers pay for fuel and access offers from their vehicles
Chevy and Shell deliver fuel payment from the comfort of the driver’s seat — Chevrolet — “Chevrolet and Shell are rolling out the automotive industry’s first embedded, in-dash fuel payment and savings experience. This new feature will allow drivers of eligible Chevrolet vehicles to pay and save directly through the touchscreen in their vehicle when they fuel up at participating Shell-branded stations, without swiping a credit card or using a mobile device.”
US supermarket chain Meijer to launch mobile self-checkout service
Meijer to launch self-scanning app to speed grocery checkout — Chicago Tribune — “The Shop & Scan service allows shoppers to scan products as they shop with a Meijer app downloaded on their phones and bag the groceries on the go. To check out, shoppers hold their phones up to a self-checkout register, then walk out the door.”
Google Pay expands support for transit ticketing cards to Portland
Google Pay now supports Hop Fastpass transit tickets in Portland, Oregon — Android Police — “To use Google Pay to pay for transit in Portland, users must first download the Hop Fastpass app and add money to create a virtual card. Once the virtual card is set up, holding your phone up the reader will work the same as with a regular Hop card.”
Mastercard files blockchain identity patent
Method and system for identity and credential protection and verification via blockchain — USPTO — “The present disclosure relates to the storage and verification and identity and credential data, specifically the use of distributed storage and storage via blockchain for protection of identity and credential data and the verification thereof.”
Nike unveils limited edition NFC sneakers that deliver member-only perks
Nike launches connected shoe that builds on tech from NBA jerseys — SportTechie — “NikePlus members in New York City will be able to purchase Nike’s first-ever connected sneaker, called AF1 NikeConnect QS NYC, via the Nike Snkrs app. A near field communication (NFC) chip embedded into the shoe will activate exclusive members-only opportunities when scanned with a user’s smartphone.”
Washington Metro to accept mobile payments from 2019
Metro moves to become mobile ready, announces plans to offer new app, mobile fare payment options beginning next year — Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority — “The new mobile fare payment platform will work with Metro’s existing infrastructure, eventually allowing customers to tap their mobile device to the white target at the faregate. The payment process is designed to be seamless and will have a similar experience to tapping a SmarTrip card today.”
SEC charges founder of former mobile payments unicorn Mozido with fraud
SEC charges fintech company founder with scheme to defraud investors and misappropriate funds — US Securities and Exchange Commission — “The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Michael Liberty, the founder of the fintech startup now known as Mozido Inc, with a scheme to trick hundreds of investors into investing in his shell companies instead of Mozido. Liberty and his accomplices then allegedly stole most of the more than US$48m raised to fund a lavish lifestyle that included private jet flights, multi-million dollar residences, expensive cars, and movie production ventures.”