Walmart has updated its mobile app to remove the need for shoppers to make physical contact with a self-checkout station when paying with the retail giant’s QR-based Walmart Pay service... More
QR Codes
Dual NFC and QR mobile payments service launches in Pakistan
UnionPay, Huawei and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) have launched a mobile payments service that lets owners of Huawei and Honor NFC phones use a single mobile wallet app to pay at any merchant equipped to accept either contactless or QR code payments... More
Amazon opens cashierless grocery store
Amazon is using the cashierless store technology that powers its Amazon Go convenience stores to provide a checkout-free experience in a full-size grocery store for the first time... More
Brazil to launch national instant payments system
Brazil’s central bank will turn on a national instant payments network in November that will allow consumers to make payments and transfers “in a few seconds, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including between accounts of different institutions” using QR codes, NFC, their mobile phone number, email address or taxpayer ID... More
Android 11 to add support for mobile driving licences
The next edition of Android will include support for mobile driving licences and will also provide enhanced biometric verification features, Google has revealed... More
Las Vegas restaurant lets diners use QR codes to pay their bill with Apple Pay
Las Vegas restaurant Makers & Finders is the first to use a new service that lets diners scan a QR code on their printed bill to pay for their meal with Apple Pay... More
Munich Airport uses NFC shelf-edge labels to let passengers self-checkout from retail store
A solution that uses NFC shelf-edge labels to let passengers self-checkout and pay for their shopping using their mobile phone is undergoing pilot testing at Munich Airport... More
Jameson adds NFC tags to whiskey bottles for St Patrick’s Day
Jameson Irish Whiskey’s annual St Patrick’s Day limited-edition bottles this year include NFC tags that customers can tap to design their own custom label and enter a competition to win a personalised limited-edition bottle... More
Poste Italiane adds QR code payments to Postepay app
Italy’s national postal service provider has added QR code-based payments to its mobile payments app, to support the country’s transition from cash to digital payments... More
Indonesia begins EMV QR mobile payments rollout
Indonesia imposes standard QR code, fixed fees for e-wallets — Tech in Asia — “Indonesia’s central bank, Bank Indonesia (BI), officially imposed the QR code standardization called QRIS (Indonesian Standard QR Code) on January 1. This means that all mobile payment providers must replace their QR code with QRIS for easier transactions.”
Chinese mobile payments users report high levels of fraud
A survey of more than 150,000 Chinese digital payment users has found that two-thirds have come across deceptive QR codes and 40.8% have had their codes surreptitiously forwarded to other people in the past year... More
Bangladesh begins national QR mobile payments rollout
Mutual Trust Bank has announced it is to be the first bank in Bangladesh to go live with Bangla QR, an interoperable QR payments system backed by the country’s central bank... More
Tencent and China UnionPay pilot interoperable QR mobile payment codes
WeChat Pay operator Tencent is working with China UnionPay on the adoption of a common QR code that will allow merchants to use the same code to accept payments from both companies’ mobile payment services, Caixin Global reports... More
Central bank pilots digital currency in the Bahamas
The Central Bank of The Bahamas has begun pilot testing a digital version of the Bahamian dollar that uses QR codes to let users make payments and transfer funds using their smartphones... More
Chinese fraudsters turn to QR codes to spread Trojans and viruses
QR code scams rise in China, putting e-payment security in spotlight — South China Morning Post — “By replacing legitimate merchants’ codes with malevolent copies, fraudsters can gain access to consumers’ data and even raid their bank accounts… According to one senior official and technology expert, almost a quarter of Trojans — malicious programs disguised as benign software – and other viruses are transmitted though QR codes.”
WeChat Pay lets users charge in-store mobile payments to their credit card
WeChat Pay now lets you Quick Pay with your credit card — SoyaCincau — “If you don’t have sufficient eWallet balance, you can now pay directly via your assigned credit card… To make a payment at a store, tap on ‘Me’ in the WeChat app and select WeChat Pay > Quick Pay. On the QR code screen, just tap on ‘Balance’ to change your payment mode from your eWallet balance to your credit card… When the merchant scans your code, the transaction amount will be charged to your credit card and it won’t deduct your eWallet balance.”
MUFG to use digital currency for mobile payments in Japan
MUFG digital currency finds second life as mobile payment — Nikkei Asian Review — “Users will convert funds from their bank accounts or elsewhere into the digital currency using a smartphone app. The service will use this currency in transactions, which will be handled through QR codes. Money sent via the app can be moved back into an account as cash, allowing for transfers between individuals.”
Hang Seng adds mobile cash withdrawals to Hong Kong ATMs
Hang Seng launches mobile cash withdrawal service — Hang Seng Bank — “Customers in Hong Kong can initiate cash withdrawal instructions on their mobile phones by using the Hang Seng Personal Banking mobile app and then collect their cash at the nearby Hang Seng ATM… At launch, all Hang Seng ATMs will support QR code cash withdrawals and over half will support both QR code and NFC cash withdrawals. NFC connectivity will be extended to all ATMs in the first half of 2020.”
Ghana to launch national QR mobile payments service in December
Govt to launch universal QR code to make Ghana cashless society — GhanaWeb — “The government will in December 2019 launch a Universal QR code in a bid to make Ghana a cashless society, vice president Dr Mahammudu Bawumia has announced. He says with the code which leverages existing technologies, traders and businesses will be able to receive payments without a point of sale device.”
PayPal and Venmo to move into in-store payments ‘next year’
PayPal is to begin a major new push into in-store payments next year, under both the PayPal and Venmo brands and using both NFC and QR codes, CEO Dan Schulman has told Axios... More