The key to mass market adoption of mobile payments will be the creation of a compelling consumer experience that incorporates both payments and value added services, the Future of Mobile Payments session at the International CES 2015, chaired by NFC World’s Sarah Clark, has found. More
Mastercard
BMW offers contactless credit card that can unlock and start hire cars
BMW has partnered with MasterCard to offer an NFC-enabled contactless credit card that makes it possible to hire, unlock and operate a BMW or Mini from a car rental fleet that has more than 2,800 vehicles and more than 350,000 users in the US, UK, Germany and Austria... More
RBC adds HCE to mobile payments app
Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has added support for host card emulation (HCE) to its RBC mobile app, “allowing Canadians to pay with most Android mobile phones without worrying about being on the right mobile network or having the right SIM card.”... More
NFC World’s Sarah Clark to chair mobile payments session at CES 2015
The editor of NFC World+ will be at the International CES in Las Vegas from 4-9 January to chair the future of mobile payments conference session and meet up with readers to discuss the latest technologies and trends... More
MasterCard to offer interactive payment cards to its issuers around the world
Interactive payment card developer Dynamics has signed a deal with MasterCard that will see the payments network offering the startup’s technology to its issuers around the world. MasterCard has also participated in Dynamics’ US$70m Series C funding round along with Canada’s CIBC and existing investors. More
MasterCard takes HCE to China
MasterCard’s cloud-based payment service is now available in China, following its initial launch in the US in September 2014... More
Credit unions to adopt Apple Pay
A number of US credit unions are actively working towards adopting Apple Pay NFC payments, credit union technology provider Co-op Financial Services has revealed... More
Ugo launches open NFC payments and rewards wallet in Canada
Ugo, an open NFC mobile wallet developed by Canadian banks President’s Choice Financial and TD Bank Group, is now available to customers of all three major Canadian carriers who own one of a range of supported BlackBerry 10 and Android NFC devices... More
Dongle-free mPOS on its way
Oberthur Technologies (OT) has teamed up with NFC mPOS services provider Mobeewave for Flying mPOS, a solution that will enable NFC devices equipped with Oberthur’s Pearl embedded secure element to be used as a mobile POS terminal — without the need for a separate dongle or other add-on... More
EcoCash takes mobile money to the point of sale
EcoCash, Africa’s second largest mobile money provider with 3.7m users, is to offer customers in Zimbawe a MasterCard debit card linked to their EcoCash wallet... More
MasterCard and Visa to create new security standard to replace passwords for online payments
MasterCard is working with Visa to create a new authentication standard for online payments that will gradually replace the 3D Secure protocol with “invisible authentication”, far fewer prompts for passwords and support for a range of biometric technologies... More
SimplyTapp raises US$6m to grow HCE
PARTNER NEWS: Host card emulation (HCE) specialist SimplyTapp has closed a US$6m Series B funding round... More
EMV hits nearly 30% of global card-present transactions
Almost 30% of all card-present transactions conducted globally between July 2013 and June 2014 used the EMV chip card standard, EMVCo has revealed, with the highest usage in Western Europe and the lowest in the United States... More
Apple Pay contract leaked
The full 19-page contract that banks wishing to offer Apple Pay to their cardholders must sign in order to take part has been leaked to Digital Transactions... More
Canadian banks pilot biometric wristband payments
Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), MasterCard and other Canadian issuing banks have begun pilot testing an NFC version of Nymi, a biometrically authenticated wristband that uses the wearer’s unique cardiac rhythm to verify their identity. More
A million consumers sign up for Apple Pay in first 72 hours
Apple Pay saw more than one million card activations within 72 hours of launch and is already the leading NFC payments player in the US, Apple CEO Tim Cook has revealed during the Wall Street Journal’s WSJDLive event. Cook also outlined future growth plans for the service, including a potential partnership with Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba. More
MasterCard backs Zwipe fingerprint payment card
MasterCard has partnered with Zwipe, maker of a contactless payment card that includes an integrated fingerprint biometric sensor, for the commercial launch of the technology following a pilot with Norway’s Sparebanken DIN. More
RBC expands cloud-based NFC wallet to BlackBerry and Virgin
Royal Bank of Canada’s cloud-based NFC wallet is now available to Virgin Mobile subscribers and to customers with a BlackBerry Z10 or Z30 mobile phone, the bank has announced... More
Chunghwa Telecom goes live with NFC payments in Taiwan
Subscribers to Chunghwa Telecom with accounts at any of four Taiwanese banks will be able to download a virtual version of their credit card to their SIM card and use it to make NFC payments from 16 October, the carrier has announced... More
US bank tests NFC Wave add-on
“One of the largest financial institutions in North America” is conducting an NFC mobile payments pilot that uses the Wave NFC device developed by On Track Innovations (OTI) in combination with provisioning and mobile wallet technology provided by ABnote... More