Facebook approaches banks for Messenger bot banking

Facebook taps banks, but for chatbots not purchase data like Google — Techcrunch — “Account linking enables people to receive real-time updates in Facebook Messenger where people can keep track of their transaction data like account balances, receipts, and shipping updates… The idea is that messaging with a bank can be better than waiting on hold over the phone — and it’s completely opt-in. We’re not using this information beyond enabling these types of experiences — not for advertising or anything else.”



NFC World

Fossil launches Gen 4 smartwatches with Google Pay support

Fossil unveils its most tech-packed touchscreen smartwatch to date — Fossil — “Exclusively compatible with Google Pay (transit and pay currently available in select countries), NFC prevents users from having to pull out their card every time they need to complete a transaction. With a few taps, your card is ready on watch to streamline any checkout experience. Security is an obvious consideration, and users set up a unique lock code on their watch to help protect from any identity or data theft.”


Google Pay goes live in Croatia

Google Pay comes to Croatia — The Dubrovnik Times — “Croatia is the first country in the Adriatic region offering Google Pay for payment in stores and on all Google platforms as of August 1, Google Adriatic said on Wednesday… Google is unveiling the service in cooperation with PBZ (Privredna Banka Zagreb), and at launch the service will be supported by PBZ online banking and the Visa Inspire card. There are plans to cooperate with other Croatian banks as well.”


Transit Ticketing Today

TransLink reports fast uptake of contactless payments on Vancouver transit system

One millions taps — Tap to Pay hits a milestone — TransLink — “It’s been two months since we launched Tap to Pay and we are happy to share our customers have embraced this new payment option in a big way. To date, there have been 160,000 unique users who have tapped their contactless credit cards and mobile wallets… Customers can tap card readers with a contactless Visa or Mastercard credit card, or a device with an Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay wallet.”


What's New in Payments

Stripe unveils DIY mobile and physical card issuing platform

An API for creating cards and new business models — Stripe — “Stripe Issuing is an end-to-end platform for quickly creating, distributing, and managing physical and virtual cards… Stripe Issuing is certified directly with all major card networks as an issuing processor, which ensures reliability and rapid feature releases. It includes support for Apple Pay and Google Pay, allows programmatic dispute handling, and provides real-time authorization hooks.”





What's New in Payments

Juniper predicts gains in market share for OEM Pays

Apple Pay accounts for 1 in 2 OEM Pay users globally, reaching 200 million by 2020 — Juniper Research — “The global number of mobile contactless users will exceed 760 million by 2020, up from an estimated 440 million in 2018… The combined market share of Apple, Samsung and Google will reach 60% of global mobile contactless users by 2023, up from an estimated 50% in 2018. Other OEM Pay users, including the likes of Huawei Pay, Xiaomi Pay, Fitbit Pay and Garmin Pay, will exceed 20 million by 2020.”



Google explains how its BiometricPrompt API will work

Better biometrics in Android P — Google — “Starting in Android P, developers can use the BiometricPrompt API to integrate biometric authentication into their apps in a device and biometric agnostic way… A support library is also provided for devices running Android O and earlier, allowing applications to utilize the advantages of this API across more devices.”


NFC World

US merchants increase support for NFC in stores, cut back on Apple Pay and Google Pay online

New survey finds fewer merchants accepting Apple Pay — Kount — “Support is up across the board for near field communication (up from 29% to 37%) and other mobile payments at the physical point-of-sale… Online merchant support for Apple Pay has gone down from 48% to 35%, Google Pay (previously Android Pay), is down from 38% to 25%, support for PayPal increased (from 48% to 64%) while 10% accept AliPay and 10% accept other e-wallets. The share of merchants who accept Samsung Pay, Visa Checkout, MasterPass, and Chase Pay all stayed constant from last year.”



What's New in Payments

JCB to add support for Google Pay in Japan

JCB to offer Google Pay in Japan — JCB — “JCB will enable Google Pay for in-store payments in Japan through its QuicPay contactless payment solution. At launch, Google Pay users will be able to make payments on their enrolled JCB credit, debit, or prepaid card at convenience stores, supermarkets, drugstores, and other shops where QuicPay is accepted and online wherever JCB is accepted. Credit, debit, and prepaid cards can be enrolled using the Google Pay app on Osaifu Keitai supported devices with Android OS 5.0 or higher version.”


What's New in Payments

Google Pay adds support for Japanese payment cards

Now you can add Suica and Waon to Google Pay in Japan — Google — “Starting today, you can add and manage your Suica and Waon cards in Google Pay if you live in Japan and have an Osaifu-Keitai eligible phone. This means four major Japanese prepaid e-money cards — Nanaco, Rakuten Edy, Suica and Waon — can all be used with Google Pay. You’ll be able to pay with Google Pay at the hundreds of locations that accept any of these cards, plus pay on transit anywhere Suica is accepted.”