More than 3bn loyalty cards will operate as mobile-only or will be integrated into mobile apps by 2020, up from 1.4bn last year, Juniper Research predicts... More
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Cash by Optus adds contactless bands and stickers to reach beyond Android owners
Consumers using Cash by Optus — the prepaid NFC SIM-based payments service launched by Australian mobile network operator Optus in November 2014 — can now make payments using a contactless wristband or a sticker attached to their mobile phone. More
Super Bowl fans explore Bay Area with BLE beacons
Attendees at Super Bowl 50 over the weekend were notified of related events, points of interest and prizes on their smartphones via a mobile app and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons installed in locations across the San Francisco Bay Area... More
MoboMoney takes sound-based mobile payments to India
Indian consumers can now make payments at participating retail locations using their mobile device and sound based technology developed by startup ToneTag. The feature has been integrated into MoboMoney, an NFC payments platform launched by information technology provider Tech Mahindra in December 2015, to extend the service to a greater number of mobile devices and merchants across the country. More
Apple Pay available in more than 2m US retail locations
Apple Pay is now available in more than 2m US retail locations, according to Bloomberg, with the Crate & Barrel, Chick-fil-A and Au Bon Pain chains also due to roll out the service soon... More
Viber to add money transfers to messaging app
The more than 664m users of messaging app Viber will soon be able to send money to friends and family from anywhere in the world thanks to an integration with money transfer network Western Union... More
MobileNow! enables parking payments from Apple Watch
Apple Watch users can now pay for parking across the US directly from their wrist with a “few simple taps” using the MobileNow! app. The service can also be used to extend parking sessions. More
Amazon Echo adds Domino’s pizza orders
US customers of pizza chain Domino’s can now speak their orders into Amazon’s Echo voice-driven home shopping device, which is supported by virtual assistant Alexa... More
NXP updates NFC Taginfo app
PARTNER NEWS: An Android app described as a “Swiss Army knife for NFC” has been updated and can now also interrogate Mifare Plus SL3 cards... More
Rail passengers pilot mobile ticketing at 230 UK stations
Technology that will enable rail passengers in the UK to travel across the country using a barcoded mobile ticket sent directly to their smartphone is undergoing pilot testing at 230 railway stations in the north of England, Scotland and the Midlands. More
Visa launches cross-marketing network for coupon-free digital rewards
US merchants can now send targeted offers and rewards to their customers that can be redeemed at other merchants’ locations via Visa Commerce Network, a new service launched by Visa that eliminates the need for coupons at the point of sale. More
Uber China adds cross-border Alipay support
Chinese consumers using taxi hailing app Uber will soon be able to pay for their journeys using Ant Financial’s mobile payment platform Alipay when travelling abroad... More
WeChat Wallet launches pilot in Hong Kong
Chinese ecommerce giant Tencent is testing its WeChat Wallet service with users in Hong Kong... More
JPMorgan Chase looks to NFC ATMs
JPMorgan Chase is to roll out ATMs that will let customers withdraw cash using their mobile phone... More
Cook reports strong growth in Apple Pay usage
Apple Pay saw a “significant acceleration in usage” in the second half of 2015, Apple CEO Tim Cook reported during the company’s first quarter earnings call, with a growth rate 10 times higher than in the first half of the year... More
National Australia Bank launches HCE mobile payments
Customers of National Australia Bank (NAB) can now make host card emulation (HCE) based mobile payments at any contactless terminal using NAB Pay, a new service that has been integrated into the bank’s existing mobile banking app and makes use of Visa’s tokenization technology... More
Bologna Airport to install Bluetooth beacons, NFC tags and QR codes
Travellers passing through Bologna Airport in Italy will soon be able to download the airport’s mobile app by tapping NFC tags or scanning QR codes with their mobile phone... More
CaixaBank will not support MST transactions when it launches Samsung Pay in Spain
Spain’s CaixaBank has revealed that it will not include support for Samsung Pay’s Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology when the bank launches support for the mobile payment service in the coming months... More
Broadway theatres deploy BLE beacons
Theatregoers on New York’s Broadway can now get information about the show they are seeing and receive offers from local restaurants, bars and other venues via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons and the Playbill Passport app. The app has been developed by technology company Broadway Voice and Playbill magazine while the beacons have been supplied by Gimbal and are used in conjunction with Urban Airship’s mobile marketing platform... More
Irish transit users get NFC top-ups
Travellers in Ireland can now top up their Leap public transport card by tapping it against their NFC phone and entering their payment details... More