“The arrival of the world leading mobile payment technology on the Ukrainian market is a decisive stimulus for large and small businesses to actively switch to cashless technology,” says Alexei Shaban, retail business manager at PrivatBank, the first Ukrainian bank to make Apple Pay available to its customers... More
Vein imaging using detection of pulsed radiation — USPTO — “Vein identification systems that are known in the art transmit infrared illumination through the user’s hand, and capture a resulting image in which the veins within the hand appear as dark or bright lines due to variations in the captured infrared intensity… In the disclosed embodiments, an optical transmitter, such as a laser, emits a pulse or sequence of pulses of infrared radiation toward an area containing a body surface of a living subject, such as the skin of the subject’s face.”
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.”
“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
Apple financial results conference call Q2 2018 — Apple — “We believe the availability of Apple Pay at major transit systems have been a key driver of adoption among commuters… Apple Pay is already the most successful mobile transit payment system in Tokyo, which has the busiest transit system of all. With the launch of Brazil in April, Apple Pay is now available in 21 markets and we expect Norway, Poland and Ukraine to launch in the next several months.”
ANZ sees dramatic uptake in digital wallet payments — iTnews — “ANZ Bank customers made almost A$600 million in mobile payments during the first half of fiscal year 2018… Customers completed more than 18.5m mobile payment transactions in the half, an increase of 156% on the previous corresponding period. ANZ said the transactions were made from mobile wallet services from Apple, Samsung, Google, Fitbit and Garmin, as well as the bank’s own Mobile Pay service.”
Order a card a minute before payment — Alfa-Bank (translation) — “Instant issuing of the card in the application is a breakthrough technology that allows Alfa-Bank customers to order and start using the required bank card in less than a minute… Alfa-Bank is the first in the Russian market to offer its customers this opportunity… The card can be immediately added to Apple Pay and used to pay for purchases using a smartphone wherever contactless payment terminals are installed, in applications and on websites.”
Latest Apple Pay promo offers 15-30% discounts from Adidas, Boxed, Goat, Headout, Saks Fifth Avenue, more — 9to5Mac — “Apple has been running regular weekly Apple Pay promos for some time now, but this week is offering deals from not just one brand but ten of them. Deals range from free rush shipping to discounts of up to 30%… The offers are applicable when using Apple Pay as your payment method either through the relevant apps, or on the web.”
iPhone users are pestered to enroll in Apple Pay — Wall Street Journal — “Apple Inc is nagging iPhone users to enroll in its mobile payment service with a persistent red-circle badge. The strategy has worked with some, but is irritating others who say it is heavy-handed and exploits the tech giant’s clout in ways that could disadvantage rivals… Users who opt not to input credit card information for Apple Pay when setting up their phones now constantly see the red circle over their settings icon.”
Apple Pay arrives in Brazil, partnering with Itaú Unibanco — Reuters — “Apple Inc’s mobile payment platform Apple Pay arrived in Brazil on Wednesday with an exclusive partnership with Itaú Unibanco Holding SA, the country’s largest private lender. The bank said Apple Pay will be available during the 90-day exclusive period to Itaú’s roughly 1.2 million card holders who also own an iPhone 6 or higher. Under the terms of the partnership, Brazilian retailers such as GPA SA will offer discounts on purchases using Apple Pay.”
Using Apple Pay Express Card features in Beijing and Shanghai — Apple (translation) — “To use the Apple Pay Express Card feature in Beijing or Shanghai, you first need to set up an Apple Pay Transportation Card on your iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus or later, or Apple Watch Series 1, Apple Watch Series 2 or later… In Beijing, you can use transportation cards to pay for subways and buses. In Shanghai, you can use transportation cards to pay for subways, buses, ferries and Maglev trains.”
Apple Pay’s new promo offers up to three free deliveries from Grubhub, Seamless, and Eat24 — MacRumors — “To take advantage of the March Madness-themed promotion, customers can enter the code “HOOPS” at checkout in Grubhub, Seamless, and Eat24 (in apps or on websites), and pay for their orders via Apple Pay to get a free delivery. The offer is limited to three redemptions per diner and three per device during the promo period, and does not cover the cost of the meal in the order.”
Apple is blocking Apple Pay from Bunq in the Netherlands — Het Financieele Dagblad (translation) — “Online bank Bunq was too fast on Tuesday by being the first financial institution in the Netherlands to make Apple Pay possible… On Wednesday afternoon, the technology company closed the back door. Only residents of Spain and Italy are welcome on the platform. Bunq customers who have converted their telephone settings for Wednesday afternoon can continue to use the service — for the time being.”
Bunq launches Apple Pay — De Telegraaf (translation) — “Apple Pay is officially not yet launched in the Netherlands by the American producer of the iPhone. However, Bunq found an opportunity to make Apple Pay available to Dutch users by launching an Italian and Spanish version of the internet bank… Dutch Bunq customers who put the new version of the app on the ‘Italy’ or ‘Spain’ region will then have Apple Pay at their disposal. They can then pay contactlessly in stores with their iPhone.”
GymKit continues global expansion with new announcement from Life Fitness — 9to5Mac — “Earlier today, Technogym announced that it has deployed some 5,000 GymKit-enabled cardio machines since November. Following that announcement, Life Fitness announced this evening that it is expanding its rollout of GymKit equipment around the world… Life Fitness says that its Fitness IFC location in Hong Kong and Anytime Fitness Japan’s Ebisu location in Tokyo will be the first locations to add the new machinery, with other locations following as time progresses.”
Apple Pay is set to add support for closed loop transit cards, issued by public transportation operators, information found in the code of the latest version of iOS suggests... More
Mobile payments survey: Apple Pay leads Google Pay in usage and interest among Millennials and GenZ in 2018 — Dealspotr — “In-store, a surprising 11% of Millennials and 10% of GenZers have used Apple Pay to pay for items in the checkout line. Apple Pay (10%) was significantly more popular than rival payment platforms such as Google’s Android Pay (4%) and Samsung’s Samsung Pay (2%)… 15% of Millennials and 15% of Generation Z have used Apple Pay to pay when shopping online (vs 9% and 9% for Google Pay).”
Australian smartphone sales grow in 2017 as users lock into platforms — Telsyte — “The increasing adoption in mobile contactless payments is starting to influence Australian’s banking decisions… Around one in five (22%) iPhone users claim they are more likely to bank with a provider if it supports Apple Pay. This figure increases to 32% per cent for those who are also using an Apple Watch.”
Apple’s Tim Cook dishes on taxes and the demise of money — Cnet — “In October 2016, Cook said Apple was going to kill cash. But Tuesday, he sounded less sure that it would happen anytime soon. ‘I’m hoping that I’m still going to be alive to see the elimination of money,’ Cook said during the shareholder meeting. ‘Mobile payments have taken off slower than I personally would have thought if you asked me sitting here a few years ago.’”
Apple offering Valentine’s Day discount for Apple Pay purchases via 1-800-Flowers — 9To5Mac — “Apple is giving users a $15 discount at the merchant when checking out with Apple Pay. This offer is valid online, or through the app, making it the first Apple Pay promo to be available both in-app and online… Apple has been offering weekly in-app Apple Pay discounts as it looks to push more users to try out the payment method. Last week, Apple offered Under Armour users discounts when checking out with Apple Pay. Previous weeks have offered discounts for Dunkin’ Donuts users, the Goat sneaker app, and SpotHero parking.”