Synchrony Financial, formerly GE Capital Retail Finance, has made “a strategic investment” in LoopPay, developer of a mobile phone add-on that lets US consumers make payments at merchants equipped with magnetic stripe card terminals... More
- Eventbrite brings tap to pay to the events industry
- Biometric card pioneer backs away from payments citing lower-than-expected market uptake
- EU calls for feedback on proposed settlement with Apple over NFC chip access
- Google signs deal to take UPI beyond India
- NFC Forum spells out DPP ambitions in ebook
60m BLE beacons to ship by 2019
Sixty million Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons worth US$500m will be shipped in 2019, ABI Research forecasts... More
Tamagotchi 4U to come with NFC
Japanese toy maker Bandai is to include NFC in the next version of its Tamagotchi electronic pets, enabling owners to tap their device on ‘Touch Spots’ and against other Tamagotchis and smartphones to exchange items and play games... More
Two thirds of UK smartphone owners open to the idea of mobile wallets
Two thirds of UK smartphone owners are open to the idea of using a mobile wallet, according to a survey conducted by Marketing Sciences — but most consumers want to use a mobile wallet to collect loyalty points and offers rather than for making payments. More
British Banking Association reports on UK’s banking ‘revolution’
Mobile and internet banking in the UK is now being used for transactions worth nearly £1bn a day and totalling £6.4bn a week, up from £5.8bn last year, according to an industry-wide report on how mobile technology is changing the banking industry from the British Banking Association and Ernst & Young. More
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Diebold and Wincor Nixdorf form ATM security alliance
ATM manufacturers Diebold and Wincor Nixdorf have partnered to found an association aimed at working to improve cash machine security. The ATM Security Association aims to compile information on recognised and potential attack scenarios, and share it with specific industry groups to rapidly deploy and implement counter-measures at a global level... More
Robin raises funds for BLE in the office
Boston startup Robin has closed a US$1.4m seed funding round to expand and develop a solution that uses iBeacons and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to let workers interact with the office space around them... More
Taiwanese banks to set up their own NFC TSM
Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission has approved a plan to establish a TSM platform that the country’s financial institutions will be able to use to introduce mobile payments services, Want China Times reports... More
Indonesia to get NFC payments
Indonesian mobile network operator Telkomsel is to launch an NFC mobile payment service in October this year, in partnership with a bank, according to Indonesian Business Daily... More
Restaurant inspectors add QR info
New inspection placards that include QR codes are to be issued by the US city of Pasadena’s Public Health Department for display in restaurants and other food outlets... More
Easyjet pilots Bluetooth beacons at three European airports
Low-cost airline easyJet is trialling iBeacon technology at London Luton, London Gatwick and Paris Charles de Gaulle airports. The aim of the project is to “enhance the in airport experience”, the airline says. More
Estonia to get Worapay mobile payments
Lithuania-based mobile payments provider Worapay is set to go live in Estonia this month with partner and local businessman Rando Parna, who has acquired a license to operate the technology... More
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NFC payments venture Isis to change its name
Isis, the NFC venture set up by US carriers AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, is to get a new name. The move is in response to the growing profile of the Isis militant group. More
HID Global aims to cut Medicaid fraud via NFC
HID Global has introduced a care worker tracking service that meets Medicaid Electronic Visitor Verification (EVV) requirements. The service uses NFC tags and NFC phones to provide an “indisputable and auditable” record of visits made to patients. More
Smartwatch with iris recognition and NFC seeks funding
Crowdfunding is being sought for an NFC-enabled smartwatch that features iris recognition technology, letting wearers identify themselves and unlock services using their unique biometric data. More
Moven raises $8m series A
Mobile banking, payments and budgeting startup Moven has raised US$8m in a series A funding round and will use the money to invest in new features and tools and to build its international network of partners... More
Bankia offers NFC stickers
Spanish bank Bankia has launched a mobile payments service that uses NFC stickers attached to the back of a customer’s smartphone to make purchases at any contactless POS terminal... More
Microsoft joins IoT alliance
Microsoft has joined the AllSeen Alliance, an association formed in December 2013 with the aim of creating a set of open standards for the Internet of Things (IoT)... More
SnapUp creates mobile shopping lists
A new iOS app lets users bookmark and track items for sale on mobile websites and in apps by simply taking a screenshot of any item of interest they spot... More
Hungarian Mobile Wallet Association reports NFC pilot results
Participants in The Hungarian Mobile Wallet Association’s MobilTarca NFC pilot made 41,000 payments valued at more than 120 million HUF (US$525,000) during the first 12 months of the trial, the association has revealed. Users also conducted more than 4,000 loyalty point transactions. More