WeChat Pay launches auto scan-and-pay for parking in China’s shopping malls — South China Morning Post — “To be part of this system, car owners must register their plate numbers under their WeChat Pay accounts. Their plates are scanned by specially set-up cameras located at the exit points of car parking sites. The artificial intelligence-based system automatically matches the captured image of the plate number with a database of WeChat Pay users to determine the corresponding account and settle the parking fees.”
Parking
Hyundai demos in-car payments with Chevron, Applebee’s and ParkWhiz
Hyundai and Xevo team up with Chevron, Applebee’s and ParkWhiz to showcase in-car payment at TU-Automotive Detroit — Hyundai Motor America — “With this technology, Hyundai expects to be able to offer customers the ability to: Find and pay for gas at participating Chevron- and Texaco-branded stations; Order and pay for Applebee’s To Go; Find, reserve and pay for parking with ParkWhiz.”
Hyundai to add support for payments in cars
Hyundai and Xevo partner to put your wallet on wheels — Hyundai Motor America — “Right now, you can find and pay for things with your smartphone, smartwatch or computer. With this in mind, Hyundai is developing technology that will allow customers to find and pay for coffee, gas and parking using their car’s infotainment screen.”
KBC adds third-party services to its mobile banking app
KBC first to incorporate non-banking apps in mobile app — KBC Group — “Starting this summer, customers can use their mobile banking app directly to start a car parking session and pay via the 4411 parking service; check the balance on their meal and eco vouchers (Monizze card) and monitor payments made using the card… In the future, as well, we’ll be continuing to actively seek out partners that can help enhance our banking apps and applications and help increase added value for our customers.”
Dubai drivers use NFC phones to top up parking purses on contactless transit cards
Now tap a Nol card on your Android phone to pay for parking — Gulf News — “The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) recently launched a smart service enabling smartphone users to recharge their parking accounts by using the near field communication (NFC) feature of Nol cards and the RTA Dubai app… Users have to download the RTA Dubai app and create an account. The users can then use the Nol card option to top up the e-parking purse available on the app, just by tapping. The system will then transfer the selected amount from the Nol card to the e-parking purse.”
Rabobank includes value added services in HCE mobile wallet
G+D Mobile Security supports Rabobank in launching a sophisticated and secure mobile payment solution — Giesecke & Devrient — “With the new solution, more Rabobank customers can use the mobile payment service since it no longer requires a special kind of SIM card. Furthermore, mobile payment is only one of the services provided: current value-added services in the Rabo Wallet include parking and customer shop and loyalty card storage solutions.”
Ant Financial gets central bank approval to launch mobile wallet JV in Malaysia
Touch ’n Go, Ant Financial get nod for e-wallet services — The Star — “Touch ’n Go Sdn Bhd (TNG) and partner Ant Financial Services Group have obtained Bank Negara’s approval to operate and offer mobile e-wallet services… The mobile e-wallet will be operated by TNG Digital Sdn Bhd, the joint-venture company between TNG and Ant Financial… TNG also expects its current users who are predominantly toll, transit and parking users to quickly sign on to enjoy the expanded services.”
Seat tests grocery deliveries direct to customers’ cars
Seat and Saba present Droppit, the app that delivers your grocery shopping directly to your parked car — Seat — “The six-month pilot test of this project, in collaboration with virtual supermarket Deliberry and courier company Glovo, will be carried out in two car parks managed by Saba in the city of Barcelona… The customer leaves their car keys with Saba staff, who are responsible for accompanying the delivery person, identifying the car and placing the order in it. In the future, the aim is to make the process easier using technology that enables the service providers to access cars using fingerprint recognition supported by the app itself.”
Samsung integrates Hong Kong’s Octopus card into Samsung Pay
Samsung teams up with Octopus to launch exclusively the first “Smart Octopus” in Samsung Pay — Octopus Holdings — “Smart Octopus in Samsung Pay will enable NFC payment at all Octopus acceptance points, covering public transport as well as over 21,000 retail outlets, online shopping, recreational facilities, vending machines, self-service kiosks; plus the use of parking and access control facilities at residential or commercial premises.”
Dubai to add loyalty points to transit card
Dubai’s RTA to introduce loyalty programme for Nol cards — Gulf Business — “The programme, called Nol+, will be available to the public by the end of this year. Cardholders will receive points for using them to pay for fares of public transport means, parking fees, entering public parks, and visiting the Etihad Museum. The points will then be converted into coupon vouchers offering free services in cafes, restaurants and entertainment centres.”
Deutsche Telekom to deploy smart parking and payments across the German city of Bonn
Mobile network operator Deutsche Telekom has signed a deal with the city of Bonn to install a network of sensors that will alert drivers to available parking spots and enable them to pay for their space using their mobile phone... More
San Francisco retailers offer special discounts and prizes through Apple Pay
US consumers will be given exclusive offers and discounts on purchases when they choose to make a payment using Apple Pay in stores across the Hayes Valley Shopping District and San Francisco Marina as part of Apple’s Lose your Wallet promotion... More
Seat and Saba promote the creation of the connected car ecosystem
Seat and Saba promote the creation of the connected car ecosystem — Seat — “The partners are studying the way to offer a mobile reservation and payment system for parking spaces… The collaboration lays the foundation for projects like Parkfinder 2.0, which will enable both companies to offer drivers real-time information on which parking spaces are available and recommend a car park according [to] the real needs of each client.”
Canadian city rolls out mobile app that links payments for parking to a driver’s licence plate
Drivers across the Canadian city of London can now pay for parking at more than 3,100 spaces across the city — including all municipal parking lots and on-street spaces — using a mobile app that lets them “seamlessly search, pay for and top up parking from their phone or tablet”. The service is being rolled out by the City of London. More
GSMA predicts 1.1bn 5G connections by 2025
The GSMA forecasts there will be 1.1bn 5G mobile connections by 2025, with 5G networks providing one in eight of all mobile connections and driving “massive rollout of intelligent IoT nodes for a multitude of scenarios”... More
Honda unveils in-vehicle payment service for fuel and parking at CES 2017
Honda is conducting the first proof-of-concept demonstration of its in-vehicle payments platform at the Consumer Electronics Show 2017 in Las Vegas... More
Biometric rear-view mirror offers in-car authentication and payments
An in-car biometric rear-view mirror that authenticates the driver using iris recognition technology has been unveiled by automotive electronics firm Gentex at CES 2017... More
Volkswagen targets mobile payments business with parking service deal
Volkswagen Financial Services AG, the financial services division of German vehicle manufacturer Volkswagen Group, has bought mobile payment platform PayByPhone to “highly increase” its involvement in mobile payments around the world and to establish a “separate business field around the theme of parking”... More
European millennials demand higher standards for mobile payments services
One fifth of German millennials (21%), more than a third of Dutch millennials (36%) and Italian millennials (37%) and a quarter of UK millennials (25%) are now making mobile payments in-store, online and in-app, research released by UK payments infrastructure operator VocaLink reveals... More
Mobile payments awareness up in North America, but usage remains flat
Nearly six in 10 North American consumers (56%) are now aware of mobile payment services — a 4% increase from this time last year, research from Accenture has revealed... More