The European Commission has sent an official statement of objections to Apple laying out the reasons why it believes the company has “abused its dominant position in markets for mobile wallets on iOS devices” and is restricting competition by limiting third-party access to its NFC chip technology... More
iOS
Consumers in Malaysia get NFC top-up for contactless fare, toll and parking payments cards
Public transport users and motorists in Malaysia can now top up their physical Touch ’n Go prepaid contactless fare, toll and parking payments card directly from their NFC smartphone... More
Delhi lets tourists top up metro fare payment cards from official tourism app
Tourists in India can now top up their contactless Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) transit card and receive information about routes and fares from their Apple or Android mobile device via the official Delhi Tourism app... More
Transport Scotland lets young passengers add free bus travel to national smartcard with NFC
Young people aged between 16 and 21 in Scotland can now add a pass entitling them to free bus travel to their physical National Entitlement Card (NEC) or Young Scot NEC smartcard from their NFC smartphone using Transport Scotland’s Pass Collect app... More
Budapest launches Mobility-as-a-Service app with citywide and regional transit ticketing
Budapesti Közlekedési Központ (BKK) transit authority has launched a new Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) app that enables public transport users in the Hungarian capital of Budapest to plan their journeys, purchase digital tickets and transit passes and receive real-time information about traffic-related changes to transport services... More
Paris to add support for NFC transit ticketing on Apple devices ‘by 2024’
Apple users travelling on public transport services in the greater Paris region will be able to store a digital version of their Navigo transit card on their iPhone or Apple Watch, as well as purchase tickets and passes and validate them using their Apple device, “by 2024”, according to a tweet posted by the Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM) transit authority... More
Apple to let US merchants accept contactless payments on their iPhone
Merchants in the US will soon be able to accept contactless payments on their iPhone via a “partner-enabled iOS app” without needing to connect their device to a payment terminal or other additional hardware, Apple has announced... More
Pakistan to launch national digital identity wallet
Citizens of Pakistan will soon be able to apply for, store and display a digital version of their national identity card in a digital ID wallet on their smartphone using an updated version of the country’s Pak-ID mobile app... More
Czech Republic to roll out mobile driving licences and digital IDs
Residents of the Czech Republic will soon be able to store, display and verify digital versions of their identity card and driving licence on their mobile device and will no longer be required to carry physical ID documents if they do so, the Czech government has confirmed in a policy statement... More
China launches digital currency app for Android and Apple users in 10 cities
Android and Apple users in 10 Chinese cities can now download a pilot version of the country’s digital yuan wallet app directly from the iOS and Android app stores that enables them to acquire, store and use China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC)... More
Moscow Metro rolls out virtual Troika transit card
Moscow Metro has officially launched the digital version of its Troika transit card, enabling Android users to pay their fares on public transport services across the Russian capital by tapping their smartphone at a turnstile or validator... More
Eurostar begins biometric ticketing pilot
Passengers travelling on Eurostar rail services from London’s St Pancras International station to continental Europe will be able to complete pre-departure ticket and passport checks before they arrive at the terminus via biometric face recognition technology, enabling them to board the train using face verification alone... More
Westpac expands dynamic CVVs to Android phones
Customers of Australia’s Westpac bank with an Android smartphone will soon be able to make payments using a digital card secured by a dynamic card verification code (CVC) that changes every 24 hours... More
VTB lets customers make contactless ATM withdrawals with digital bank cards
Customers of Russia-based bank VTB can now use a digital debit or credit card to make contactless cash withdrawals from its ATMs using their iOS or Android device... More
ABN Amro lets customers make cardless ATM withdrawals with their mobile phone
Customers of ABN Amro in the Netherlands can now make contactless cash withdrawals from ATMs via their mobile banking app without needing to use their debit card... More
California releases code for digital Covid-19 vaccine records to support deployment in other US states
California has released the code for both the front end and middle tier of its Digital Covid-19 Vaccine Record into the public domain to enable other US states to deploy their own digital vaccination record systems more quickly... More
Pakistan lets citizens apply for national IDs from their smartphone
Citizens of Pakistan can now apply for a national ID card using a mobile app that enables them to scan the documents needed to support their application and verify their identity with their fingerprint and a photograph of their face from their smartphone... More
South Korea passes law to open up app store payments to competing payment services
The South Korean parliament has passed a bill that will require companies such as Apple and Google to allow the use of payment services other than their own proprietary systems for the purchase of digital goods within their app stores... More
Google adds NFC to its latest Titan Security Keys
Google has added NFC functionality to both of the latest versions of its Titan Security Key, enabling Google account holders to use them as a second layer of authentication when signing into their account or compatible third-party apps and services by tapping the key on their mobile device... More
Belgian railways trial ‘check in check out’ app-based fare payments
Belgian railway operator SNCB is to pilot an automated app-based ticketing system that uses geolocation technology to track a passenger’s journey and then calculates the fare and charges the passenger via the app after that journey is completed... More