Customers of Singapore’s United Overseas Bank (UOB) will soon be able to withdraw cash from ATMs with a tap of their NFC mobile phone and get instant digital credit card issuance straight to their smartphones through the UOB Mighty host card emulation (HCE) based mobile payment service... More
Mastercard
Mastercard reports strong US EMV uptake
Nearly nine in ten Mastercard US consumer credit cards (88%) contained chips as of July 2016, representing a 105% increase in chip card adoption since the October 2015 liability shift, the payment network has revealed... More
Facebook updates Messenger bots to enable payment
Businesses across the US will now be able to sell products and services through Facebook’s Messenger app... More
Ecobank Masterpass QR launches in Nigeria
Ecobank customers in Nigeria will soon be able to make in-store payments by scanning a QR code using their mobile phone or entering a merchant identifier into their feature phone... More
Gemalto helps Spanish Carrefour customers get mobile payments
PARTNER NEWS: Customers shopping at supermarket giant Carrefour in Spain will soon be able to load a digital version of their existing PASS Carrefour banking card and the retailer’s loyalty program to their Android phone and make host card emulation (HCE) based mobile payments at the point of sale... More
Venmo to get NFC mobile payments
The PayPal-owned Venmo mobile payments app may soon allow users to make in-store purchases using NFC... More
Mastercard reports on Masterpass uptake
Digital payments platform Masterpass has been available to 200m consumers in Europe as of the end of June 2016... More
FeliCa NFC technology confirmed for Apple Pay in Japan
Apple has confirmed that its new flagship smartphones — the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus — and the second generation Apple Watch will be equipped with Sony FeliCa NFC technology... More
PayPal extends NFC acceptance in US via Mastercard
US consumers will soon be able to make NFC mobile payments using PayPal at the point of sale wherever Mastercard is accepted... More
MDM Bank launches HCE in Russia
Customers of Russia’s MDM Bank can now make host card emulation (HCE) based mobile payments using the bank’s mobile banking app... More
MegaFon launches contactless card with carrier billing
Russian mobile network operator MegaFon has begun offering customers a contactless card enabling them to make in-store purchases wherever Mastercard is accepted, charging the payment to their mobile phone bill... More
Wristbands speed Olympic visitors onto Rio transport
PARTNER NEWS: Visitors to the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games are paying for journeys on buses, ferries and trains across the city with NFC wristbands provided by digital security giant Gemalto and public transportation ticketing operator RioCard. More
Mastercard sees US EMV growth
Eight out of ten Mastercard US consumer credit cards now include chips, representing an 88% increase in EMV adoption since the October 2015 liability shift... More
Mastercard and Visa join ClearXChange
Mastercard and Visa have joined Early Warning’s peer-to-peer network ClearXChange, allowing US consumers to send money to others using their Mastercard or Visa credit and debit cards... More
ČSOB launches HCE in Czech Republic
Customers of Czech bank ČSOB can now make host card emulation (HCE) based mobile payments using its new NaNákupy mobile wallet... More
South Africans to get biometric authentication for card payments
The Payments Association of South Africa (PASA) has unveiled a new standardised specification to facilitate biometric authentication on payment cards. More
Mobile-only bank goes live in Germany
Mobile network operator Telefónica Deutschland has launched a mobile-only bank in partnership with Fidor Bank in Germany. The service will allow peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions to be made using mobile phone numbers and will come with a Mastercard debit card for in-store and ATM transactions. More
LTA signs up Mastercard for account-based contactless ticketing in Singapore
Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) has signed a partnership agreement with Mastercard to begin piloting a new account-based ticketing system that will let commuters pay for their train and bus journeys using their existing contactless debit and credit cards. More
Mastercard planning to become a PSP in China
Mastercard is planning to apply to become a payment service provider (PSP) in China this year but is still deciding whether to do so alone or with a partner, according to Reuters... More
Mastercard takes majority stake in VocaLink
Mastercard has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 92.4% of UK payments infrastructure operator VocaLink for approximately £700m (US$920m)... More