GM lets customers order their morning coffee with their car — General Motors — “Drivers can now order and pay for their favourite coffee — and much more — on the way to work with a simple tap on the dash… Marketplace gives drivers of eligible Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles the opportunity to more safely interact with a growing number of their favourite brands in retail, fuel, hospitality, food, hotel and transportation through the in-vehicle touchscreen. Marketplace also features a “Shop” section dedicated to offers specific to GM vehicles.”
USA
US survey finds growing support for biometrics as a replacement for passwords and PINs
Visa survey reveals consumers are ready to say goodbye to passwords — Visa — “Seventy percent of respondents find biometrics easier than passwords and 61% consider it faster. Fewer than a third of consumers use unique passwords for each of their accounts. Fifty percent of consumers responded that the top benefit of using biometrics is eliminating the need to remember multiple passwords or PINs, followed by 46% who said that biometrics is more secure than passwords or PINs for verifying identity.”
Avis pilots mobile car rental keys
Continental, Avis turn phones into rental car keys — Roadshow — “Using a smart device, renters will be able to lock, unlock and even start their rental car without needing to hunt down a physical key or key fob… For now, the pilot program is limited to a single market — the Kansas City area. But, if all goes according to plan, it’s likely to roll out to additional markets in the future.”
Trimet to roll out world’s first integration of transit ticketing card with Android Pay
Portland-Vancouver’s Hop Fastpass partners with Google, becoming the first virtual transit fare card available within Android Pay globally — TriMet — “TriMet and Google are teaming up for a first — making Hop Fastpass the first virtual transit card available in Android Pay starting early next year… In December 2017, a select group of TriMet, C-Tran, and Portland Streetcar beta testers will be able to load a virtual Hop card into Android Pay — giving them the ability to tap their phones to pay for their fares and receive all the benefits of a physical Hop card.”
Kroger grocery stores to accept Chase Pay mobile payments
Kroger and Chase Pay announce mobile payment partnership — Kroger — “The Kroger Co is teaming up with Chase Pay — the digital engagement wallet from JPMorgan Chase & Co — to offer mobile payments starting with select retail markets and ecommerce programs in 2018… Through the partnership, Chase’s 65 million customers will have an opportunity to use Chase Pay at Kroger for online and in-lane purchases.”
First US gym adds support for Apple Watch NFC pairing with exercise machines
Apple Watch GymKit syncing arrives in exactly one US gym — Engadget — “GymKit syncing on the Apple Watch technically arrived with watchOS 4.1, but there’s been one main obstacle to using it: Actually finding a gym that supports it. Only one fitness center each in Australia and the UK have enabled it so far… One solitary gym in New York City, Life Time Athletic at Sky, now has 13 GymKit-capable machines (including treadmills, bikes, ellipticals and stair steppers) that will pair with your smartwatch.”
AmEx drops signature requirement for transactions in US stores
AmEx joins Mastercard and Discover in dumping signature requirement — Bloomberg — “AmEx will no longer require customers to sign at checkout for credit- or debit-card purchases beginning in April 2018… Mastercard and Discover dropped the requirement this year, leaving Visa Inc as the only large US payments network that hasn’t rescinded its policy.”
Nintendo and Kellogg’s add NFC tags to cereal boxes
Special edition Super Mario Cereal boxes with integrated NFC tags are to begin shipping in the US on 11 December... More
Apple Pay Cash to run on Discover’s network
Discover Network enables payments for Apple’s newly launched Apple Pay Cash — Discover — “Discover announced today that transactions made with Apple’s new Apple Pay Cash card leverage the Discover Network… When Apple customers receive money on a supported device, the money is added to their new Apple Pay Cash card. They can use the money instantly to pay someone or to make purchases using Apple Pay in stores, apps and on the web.”
Garmin Pay adds support for Visa credit, debit and prepaid cards
Garmin and NXT-ID subsidiary FitPay expand Garmin Pay to Visa accountholders — Garmin and NXT-ID — “Garmin Pay is now available to Visa accountholders from numerous participating issuing banks including Bank of America, Capital One, and US Bank in the United States, and BonusCard, Cornér Bank, ANZ and NAB (National Australia Bank) internationally… Garmin Pay was initially launched in November 2017 for Mastercard accountholders.”
US consumers ready to share purchasing data with financial services AIs
NTT Data study finds Alexa and Siri will drive the digital customer experience of the future for financial services firms — NTT Data — “Consumers are comfortable providing FSIs [Financial Services Institutions] with access to a wide range of data if it enables them to provide advice on spending, insurance products or coverages, or targeted financing options to meet their financial goals. 68% would share online retail purchase information, 61% would share geolocation information, 49% would share Uber, Lyft and OpenTable information, 42% would share Facebook and Twitter information.”
Target adds mobile payments, coupons and rewards to mobile app
Target launches Wallet in the Target app: A faster, easier way to pay and save — Target — “With Wallet, guests can pay using their Target REDcard and save with Cartwheel — all in a single scan of their phones at checkout… Wallet combines digital savings — Cartwheel offers and Weekly Ad coupons — with the 5% REDcard discount. And, coming soon, guests also will be able to store and redeem Target GiftCards with Wallet.”
Apple begins to switch on Apple Pay Cash
Apple Pay Cash is rolling out for iOS 11.2 users — The Verge — “Apple was forced to release iOS 11.2 on Saturday, which was a little earlier than planned, due to a software bug. Now, Apple Pay Cash — one of the marquee features of the update — is being activated for users… The new feature is only available in the US for now, though.”
Black Friday figures show US consumers are moving to EMV but mobile payments usage remains low
Dip, swipe or tap? How consumers paid on Black Friday, by the numbers — Cayan — “Our study found EMV to be the most popular payment method: 73% of shoppers paid with their chip cards while 18% paid with magstripe… Only 1% of shoppers opted to pay with their phones, up from just 0.6% in 2016.”
Juniper forecasts 375m NFC ticketing users by 2022
NFC mobile ticketing users to reach 375 million users by 2022, despite a slow start — Juniper Research — “The number of mobile users adopting NFC ticketing will exceed 375 million by 2022, up from an estimated 122 million in 2017. While there is rapid growth in NFC ticketing in European markets, Juniper has scaled back NFC ticketing adoption in many other markets, such as the US, India, and Africa, due to the lack of available services and infrastructure.”
Boston to introduce NFC and contactless transit ticketing
Paying for a ride on the T could look very different in three years — Metro — “The MBTA on Monday moved towards overhauling its fare collection system to eliminate cash from its trolleys and buses and to give riders the ability to pay onboard with a credit card or smartphone… Riders will no longer be able to pay with cash on buses or the Green Line, eliminating transactions that cause delays and frustration for other passengers.”
Amazon moves closer to rollout of automated stores
Amazon’s cashierless store is almost ready for prime time — Bloomberg — “For the past year, Amazon employees have been test driving Amazon Go, an experimental convenience store in downtown Seattle. The idea is to let consumers walk in, pick up items and then pay for them without ever standing in line at a cashier… In a sign that the concept is almost ready for prime time, hiring for the Amazon Go team has shifted from the engineers and research scientists needed to perfect the platform to the construction managers and marketers who would build and promote the stores to consumers.”
Garmin Pay goes live in US, Switzerland, Russia and Australia
Garmin and NXT-ID subsidiary FitPay announce Garmin Pay now live on Garmin Vivoactive 3 smartwatch — NXT-ID and Garmin International — “The new contactless payment capability is powered by the FitPay payment platform and available initially for Mastercard cardholders from numerous issuing banks and credit unions including BECU, Capital One, First Tech Federal Credit Union, and US Bank in the United States, and internationally through Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Cornèrcard, Sberbank of Russia, and Swiss Bankers Prepaid Services Ltd.”
Samsung Rewards ‘increased the use of Samsung Pay by 48%’
Samsung Rewards: Growing big in year one, with a preview of the year ahead — Samsung — “After a year of growing 25% month-over-month, millions of people are enrolled in and actively use Samsung Rewards. In the first week of November alone, we gained more than one million new users in the United States… We estimate that Rewards increased the use of Samsung Pay by 48%… We are also exploring adding innovative new features that our consumers will enjoy such as peer to peer points sharing and integration with partner loyalty programs.”
US banks complete first transaction using real-time payments system
First new core payments system in the US in more than 40 years initiates first live payments — The Clearing House — “’RTP is one of the most important payment transformation efforts in our industry. It goes far beyond helping financial institutions address the legacy challenges of payment processing in the US (speed, transparency, cost) and improving the client experience. Bringing online a truly real time, two way, 24×7 payment and messaging system will create new scenarios and entire new markets in ways we have not even anticipated,’ said Ian Stewart, CEO of BNY Mellon Treasury Services.”