SBI Yono: The big security advantage for you with this new cardless cash withdrawal — Financial Express — “Customers can initiate the cash withdrawal process by installing the Yona App and setting a six-digit Yono Cash PIN for the transaction and another six-digit reference number for a transaction, which customers will get after initiating the cash withdrawal process on their registered mobile number via SMS, that has to be used within 30 minutes along with the PIN at the nearest Yono Cash point to get the cash… The SBI has enabled 16,500 ATMs for this service, called Yono Cash Points.”
- Bank of China lets taxi drivers accept central bank digital currency payments on NFC mobile phones
- Juniper forecasts 25% increase in POS terminal transaction values by 2028
- STMicroelectronics launches NFC tag chip with elliptic curve cryptography
- NFC Forum survey finds majority of consumers now prefer making payments with their mobile phone
- Hello, NFCW readers!
WeChat Pay reports 500% increase in transaction volumes
WeChat Pay supports merchants expanding businesses by bringing its ecosystem to the world — WeChat Pay — “In 2018, the monthly average transaction volume saw an increase of 500% year on year, while the total transaction value increased 400%. Meanwhile, the number of service providers witnessed a year-on-year increase [of] 300%, and the number of merchants accepting WeChat Pay increased 700%. WeChat Pay is now available in 49 markets outside of the Chinese mainland, supporting cross-border payment transactions in 16 currencies.”
Public Transport Victoria to add Myki transit cards to Google Pay
Mobile Myki — Public Transport Victoria — “Mobile Myki is a digital Myki on your Android phone. From Thursday 28 March 2019 it will be available on the Google Pay app… Mobile Myki uses all of the existing Myki gates and readers on Melbourne’s trams, at train stations and on Myki-enabled buses across Victoria. The new technology uses Google Pay on the Android operating system and allows passengers to purchase Full fare, Concession, Child and Senior Mykis using both Myki Money and Myki Pass.”
Samsung Pay promotes mobile payments adoption with prize draw for UK users
Samsung offers customers thousands of prizes with Samsung Pay — Samsung — “To enter the prize draw and be in with a chance to win, new and existing Samsung Pay users must enter the prize draw, then use Samsung Pay to make five transactions by 3 May 2019. Prizes include a 55-inch 2018 Q9F flagship QLED 4K television, a selection of 42mm Galaxy Watches and Samsung Level Box Slim Bluetooth speakers as well as 64GB Micro SD cards.”
GlobalPlatform releases secure element specs for system-on-chip deployments
GlobalPlatform has published two new standards designed to provide chip, device and firmware developers with an open, standardized way to load and manage firmware in a secure and isolated area of a device’s system-on-a-chip (SoC). More
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European airlines add support for Google Pay
Air France, KLM, EasyJet, Lufthansa and Ryanair have all begun adding support for Google Pay, enabling flyers to save their boarding passes to the service when they use an airline’s app to buy a ticket. More
Mammut uses NFC to create next generation customer experiences for outdoor sports fans
Swiss mountain sports equipment brand Mammut has launched a mobile app that uses NFC to support retailers that stock its products and provide “a new way of bringing emotional and interactive product information to the consumer”... More
Visa seeks product manager for cryptocurrency team
Technical Product Manager, Visa Fintech — Visa — “As a product manager on the Visa Crypto team, this person will have responsibility for executing Visa’s product strategy within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. This highly motivated individual will be responsible for managing a product roadmap and collaborating with key stakeholders across the strategy, risk, research and engineering organisations.”
Xiaomi expands its Mi Pay mobile payments service to India
Xiaomi announces official Indian launch of Mi Pay — GSMArena — “Back in 2016, Xiaomi launched Mi Pay in China and followed that up by launching a beta trial in India. Testing is finally complete and Indian users get full access to Mi Pay. The platform is built on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in collaboration with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and ICICI Bank and supports more than 120 banks.”
Decathlon adds RFID tags to make in-store self-checkout easier for customers
Sports retailer Decathlon is using a combination of RFID tags and mobile payments to enable customers to use self-checkout kiosks at its newest store in Singapore without needing to scan the barcodes on the items they have placed in their shopping basket... More
Ysplit makes money from split bill payments
Ysplit is testing a virtual card which can be used by friends and people in house shares to split bill payments. Where it differs from similar schemes is that Ysplit earns interchange fees from being the card on which the bill is paid. More
Global survey finds most consumers would share more personal data with banks
Six in ten consumers willing to share significant personal data with banks and insurers in exchange for lower pricing — Accenture — “81% of consumers would be willing to share income, location and lifestyle habit data for rapid loan approval, and 76% would do so to receive personalized offers based on their location, such as discounts from a retailer. Half (51%) of consumers want their bank to provide updates on how much money they have until their next pay day, and 57% want savings tips based on their spending habits.”
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Visa offers free upgrades to Apple Pay users in UAE and Saudi Arabia
Visa partners with Starbucks & Hardee’s to help promote the use of Apple Pay in KSA and UAE — MenaFN — “The promotion with Starbucks will allow Visa cardholders to upgrade the size of their latte, cappuccino or americano beverages if they pay through Apple Pay… The Hardee’s promotion will allow Visa cardholders to receive a free dessert when they buy any large meal of their choice using Visa with Apple Pay.”
Commonwealth Bank reports ‘dramatic increase’ in mobile payments due to Apple Pay
Digital wallet payments surge on Apple Pay: CBA — The Sydney Morning Herald — “‘Since we’ve introduced Apple Pay, we’ve seen the number of wallet transactions that are linked to a card increase 2.7 times. So it’s really increased quite dramatically since we’ve introduced Apple Pay for our consumer customers,’ said Sam Itzcovitz, CBA’s general manager of commerce solutions, business customer solutions.”
WhatsApp Payments to launch in UK, Mexico and Brazil?
WhatsApp Payments reportedly coming to Mexico, Brazil, UK next — NDTV — “According to WABetaInfo, a prolific tipster of upcoming WhatsApp features, three countries — Brazil, Mexico, and [the] UK — will be getting WhatsApp Payments next… The service was introduced in beta in India last year but is yet to roll out to all users in the country because of regulatory hurdles.”
German consumers warm to contactless payments
Consumer insights study on German consumers’ preferred payment methods — First Data — “Contrary to the traditional ‘cash being king’ mindset, our study reveals a definite shift in consumer preference to more convenient methods of payments… 42% believe contactless payments are more convenient… 54% of consumers believe cash will become obsolete in a few years, 52% prefer card payments… 61% agree that card payments will become increasingly available.”
Carrefour tests biometric payments at point of sale
Carrefour has begun testing a biometric payments system at its Skanska supermarket in the Romanian capital city of Bucharest, the supermarket giant has announced... More
Facebook to offer WhatsApp payments in Africa?
Facebook in talks with banks about mobile payments in Africa — BusinessDay — “Facebook is in talks with financial institutions about possible mobile payment collaborations in Africa, says Carolyn Everson, a vice president at the social networking group… ‘We’re definitely interested in helping facilitate payments — it’s more of a 2020 roadmap for us than a 2019 one — but we’re having those initial conversations with some of the larger financial services companies.”
Shenzhen Metro tests face recognition payments
You will soon be able to pay your subway fare with your face in China — South China Morning Post — “At the Futian station, instead of presenting a ticket or scanning a QR bar code on their smartphones, commuters can scan their faces on a tablet-sized screen mounted on the entrance gate and have the fare automatically deducted from their linked accounts.”
Shanghai bus operator adds face recognition payments
SenseTime promotes traffic safety with smart automobile solutions — SenseTIme — “Passengers may register on the shuttle bus service app and submit their photo, they will then no longer have to worry about forgetting their smartphone or shuttle bus card, simply scan and go aboard, saving the hassle of waiting in queue to pay when getting on a bus.”