Sweden’s central bank The Riksbank is to begin testing its e-krona central bank digital currency (CBDC) with external partners to assess how a digital krona would operate within a real world banking and payments infrastructure... More
Contactless
Continente opens cashierless supermarket in Portugal
Portuguese supermarket chain Continente has opened its first autonomous cashierless store in Lisbon, enabling customers to use a QR code generated in the company’s Labs app to access the shop and automatically pay for their purchases from their mobile phone without needing to scan their goods or use a checkout... More
Apple eyes alternative payments with new business development role
Apple is seeking to recruit a business development manager to research and form partnerships with “strategic alternative payment providers”, launch “new programs” and contribute to “business strategy and product roadmaps for the growth of Apple Pay and Wallet Services”, a job advertisement posted by the company reveals... More
German savings banks trial digital receipts for NFC smartphone users
Consumers in the Cologne-Bonn area of Germany will soon be able to receive digital receipts on their NFC smartphone for in-store purchases at merchants taking part in a pilot of a new digital receipt service being launched by the Sparkasse group of savings banks... More
UK government unveils plans for digital ticketing across national rail network
Passengers travelling on UK train services are to get more contactless and digital ticketing options across the rail network and will be able to buy tickets and access fare and timetable information via a single integrated website, the UK government has announced... More
Nearly 90% of card present payments globally were made using EMV chip cards in 2020
Almost nine in 10 card present transactions conducted globally (86.1%) were made using EMV chip-enabled payment cards between January and December 2020, according to standards body EMVCo... More
Market Pay picks Dejamobile to let merchants accept contactless payments on NFC devices
PARTNER NEWS: Market Pay is enabling merchants to use a standard Android NFC smartphone or tablet to accept contactless payments at the point of sale without needing any additional hardware... More
Swift and Accenture lay out requirements for cross border CBDC payments infrastructure
Ensuring that central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are interoperable and integrated with existing payment infrastructures are among the key requirements for their successful implementation in cross border transactions, according to a joint paper published by Swift and Accenture... More
Clipper rolls out support for Google Pay for transit fares in San Francisco Bay Area
Android users can now upload their Clipper transit card to Google Pay, reload their card balance and pay for their fares on 24 transit systems across the San Francisco Bay Area of the USA with their smartphone... More
Android 12 to add support for NFC and UWB digital keys
The next version of Android will include support for NFC and ultra wideband (UWB) digital car keys, enabling users to lock, unlock and start their vehicle from their mobile phone... More
England rolls out digital vaccine certificates on NHS app
Residents of England who have been inoculated against Covid-19 can now use the National Health Service’s NHS App to access a digital certificate confirming their vaccine status on their iOS or Android device without needing to request certification from their GP... More
ABI forecasts open loop EMV transit ticketing payment cards to top 136m by 2025
The number of open-loop EMV contactless cards used to make transit ticketing payments worldwide will increase from 24.8m currently to 136.9m by 2025, according to an ABI Research forecast... More
Kazakhstan to pilot central bank digital currency
The National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan has published a public consultation document as part of its plans to develop and pilot a central bank digital currency (CBDC)... More
German supermarket to trial anonymous checkout-free shopping
Customers at a supermarket in the German city of Cologne owned by retail giant Rewe will soon be able to enter the store by scanning a QR code, selecting the items they wish to buy and paying for them from their mobile phone without needing to scan their purchases or use a checkout... More
California begins state-wide rollout of fare capped open loop contactless ticketing
Passengers using Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) buses are the first in the state of California, USA, to be able to pay their fares with their bank card or payment-enabled mobile device using a fare-capped open loop contactless ticketing system... More
Singapore university to pilot virtual commercial payment card
Staff at the Singapore University of Social Science (SUSS) are to trial a virtual commercial payment card that will enable them to make corporate purchases including software licences, subscriptions and travel passes without needing to use their personal credit or debit cards and then claim reimbursement... More
Visa switches on Apple Pay support in Japan
Consumers in Japan can now add their Visa credit or debit cards to Apple Pay and use them to make in-store, in-app and online payments from their iPhone or Apple Watch... More
Irish banks plan Yippay mobile payments joint venture to compete with new entrants
Bank of Ireland, AIB, Permanent TSB and KBC Ireland are planning to launch a mobile payments service known as Yippay “to rival disruptors such as Revolut”, according to the Irish Independent... More
Bahamas links digital currency to bank accounts
Consumers in the Bahamas will be able to use mobile wallets integrated with the country’s Sand Dollar “like an ATM” and transfer the central bank digital currency to their wallet directly from their bank account, the governor of the Central Bank of The Bahamas, John Rolle, has said... More
Consumers to get option to personalise their digital payment cards
Consumers may soon be able to personalise the payment cards stored in their digital wallets by uploading their own pictures or images of their favourite sports teams, charities and retail brands to them... More