PARTNER NEWS: STMicroelectronics has introduced a range of dynamic tag chips that support both the NFC Type 5 and the ISO 15693 RFID specifications, enabling them to be read by both standard NFC smartphones and, at a longer range of up to one metre, by RFID readers. More
The most obvious recent change in the payments landscape across India is the significant increase in the number of digital payments taking place in both urban and rural areas as a result of the measures taken by the Indian government to push the cashless initiative to the top of the nation’s agenda, says Mahindra Comviva’s senior vice president and head of mobile financial solutions. More
PARTNER NEWS: Guala Closures Group, a world leader in security closures, has teamed up with NXP to introduce an NFC-based tamper evident closure solution for the wine and spirits industry that is designed to protect brands, enable advanced anti-counterfeiting and tamper-proofing and enable brand owners to make VIP offers, loyalty rewards and more available to customers through a tap of their NFC mobile device. More
Employees at Pick n Pay supermarket stores and Absa Bank staff across South Africa have been trialling a biometric card developed by Mastercard that lets them make a payment at any EMV terminal and authenticate the transaction by placing their finger on the embedded sensor. Additional trials are planned over the next few months, with a full roll out expected “later this year”. More
The number of consumers using OEM Pays — mobile payment services delivered by handset manufacturers — such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay will exceed 100m for the first time during the first half of 2017 and is expected to surpass 150m by the end of the year, Juniper Research reveals, while host card emulation (HCE) adoption is set to rise five-fold over the next four years. More
A new security white paper on Apple’s iOS 10 provides details about security improvements made to Touch ID as well as insight into the security infrastructure behind a feature of the operating system that makes it possible for developers to enable Apple Pay users to start a payment on a computer and finish it on their phone, Techcrunch reports... More
PARTNER NEWS: NXP has unveiled two new NFC chips and a range of NFC offerings designed to “capitalise on the inherent security and interactive capabilities of NFC for advanced product authentication, integrity assurance and enhanced user engagement across consumer manufactured goods, healthcare, retail and other industries”. More
The number of mobile transactions as a percentage of all in-store transactions has grown by 247% in the UK over the last year, analysis of transaction data and a consumer survey conducted by payments processor Worldpay has found. Workers paying for lunch on the go and payments for drinks in bars are the main drivers of the increase in transaction volume. More
PARTNER NEWS: A new embedded secure element and NFC solution from NXP will make it possible for mobile transactions to be conducted at the same speed as contactless card transactions... More
Ten Smart Benches have been installed across London to enable passersby to donate £2 (US$3) to Cancer Research UK with a tap of their contactless debit or credit card. The Smart Bench network is currently being piloted in two boroughs in the city, with a further 90 benches to be permanently rolled out later this year. More
A 14-page white paper that aims to educate public transport operators, mobile network operators and handset manufacturers on how to implement NFC technology across transportation systems, while ensuring consistent, reliable and efficient performance between devices and mobile ticketing systems, is now available to download from the NFC World Knowledge Centre. More
The Payments Association of South Africa (PASA) has unveiled a new standardised specification to facilitate biometric authentication on payment cards. More
A 16-page white paper designed to help banks make informed decisions about bringing an Android-based mobile payments service to market is now available to download from the NFC World Knowledge Centre. More
Mastercard has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 92.4% of UK payments infrastructure operator VocaLink for approximately £700m (US$920m)... More
PARTNER NEWS: Motorists in Marseille, France, will soon be able to pay for the time spent in a parking bay by sending an SMS when they enter and another one when they leave, charging the payment to their mobile phone bill. More
A 29-page white paper that explores the payment industry of Bangladesh and includes a detailed examination of its current systems, the evolution of alternative payment methods and the uptake of NFC, tokenization and EMV is now available to download from the NFC World+ Knowledge Centre. More
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released its framework for payment and settlement systems with a view to moving the country towards a “less-cash” society... More
A case study which explores how one of London’s most iconic buildings has used NFC technology to streamline data key management, security patrol and contractor services into a single interface and deliver more accurate information in real time is now available to download from the NFC World+ Knowledge Centre. More
UK bank Barclays is to become the first to launch Pay by Bank, the mobile payment app developed by payments infrastructure operator VocaLink’s mobile payment startup Zapp... More
Samsung Pay is expected to launch in Australia next week, an invitation to a press conference scheduled for June 15 reveals... More