Starbucks customers across the US will soon be able to purchase gift cards using Apple Pay and send them to friends and family within Apple’s iMessage platform. The move comes as the coffee giant reveals it now has approximately nine million mobile paying customers with one in three using Mobile Order & Pay, which accounted for 8% of all transactions made across US stores last month. More
Motorists across Canada can now pay for fuel and car washes as well as accumulate loyalty rewards using a mobile payment service that is being rolled out by fuel retailer Imperial Oil to 1,000 Esso-branded gas stations nationwide. More
Customers of Australian bank Westpac will soon be able to use an innovative replacement for the default keyboard found in social messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp to make P2P money transfers to friends, family and businesses as well as send cardless cash codes to recipients for ATM withdrawals. More
Samsung’s Galaxy S8 flagship smartphone “will employ facial-recognition technology for mobile payments within months of release,” Bloomberg reports... More
Relying on Android or alternatives to NFC for successful mobile payment services in a country with one of the world’s largest iPhone market shares and high contactless card use is “unrealistic”, the group of Australian banks seeking access to the iPhone’s NFC functionality say in their latest submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)... More
The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston says awareness of mobile payments “continues to grow” but “more education for consumers and employees” is needed to achieve mass adoption of mobile and digital wallets... More
ING Direct and Macquarie Bank are now rolling out support for Apple Pay in Australia, with 47 financial institutions now supporting the mobile payments service in the country... More
Apple’s iPhone 7S, 7S Plus and 8 will come with a 3D laser scanner for facial recognition later this year to replace the Touch ID fingerprint scanner, JPMorgan analyst Rod Hall has told MacRumors... More
A patent shows Apple is working on a “micro-LED active matrix display panel” that would allow a fingerprint scanner to be integrated into an iPhone touchscreen and could eventually replace the current Touch ID button... More
Customers of Isbank in Turkey can now send and receive money using Apple’s iMessage... More
The group of Australian banks arguing for the right to collectively negotiate with Apple over the introduction of Apple Pay in the country have dropped their request to jointly arrange how to “pass-through” additional fees Apple imposes on its mobile payment service, and will now focus solely on gaining access to the NFC functionality within the iPhone... More
The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has come out in support of the group of four Australian banks seeking stronger negotiation powers with Apple over the introduction of Apple Pay in the country, saying they believe access to the NFC functionality in the iPhone would allow retailers to provide “a richer and more convenient customer experience”... More
Customers of Dutch bank ING can now make a payment request and send money through Apple’s iMessage platform... More
Mobile POS provider Square is encouraging small traders across the US to promote Apple Pay to customers by letting them process more than US$12,000 worth of Apple Pay payments for free — a saving of $350 in processing costs... More
Google is adding support for host card emulation (HCE) based NFC payments to smartwatches in Android Wear 2.0, the new version of its operating system for smartwatches which is scheduled to be released in early February 2017... More
Apple’s next iPhone could include facial or gesture recognition, according to a research note issued to clients by financial services firm Cowen and Company... More
US consumers making purchases at 300,000 self-serve machines across the country will soon receive exclusive offers, promotions and discounts toward future purchases when using Apple Pay to complete a payment... More
Electric vehicle (EV) charging network ChargePoint has integrated with Apple Maps, allowing US drivers to view EV charger points through the map service and pay for charging time using Apple Pay... More
Apple Pay is now accepted by 35% of US retailers, representing about 4m locations across the country, Apple VP Jennifer Bailey has revealed during the Re/code Code Commerce event in San Francisco... More
Australian bank ANZ has announced it is working with Apple to deliver a wider range of financial products, including mortgages, through Apple Pay, the Sydney Morning Herald reports... More