What's New in Payments

UnionPay sets out its mobile payments rollout plans

UnionPay International launches mobile payment service platform to accelerate rolling out of its mobile payment worldwide — UnionPay — “UnionPay International will introduce Huawei Pay to the global markets this year, and Russia is expected to be the first country outside mainland China where Huawei Pay will be launched. In addition, UnionPay QR code payment will be available in Tajikistan, Japan, Cambodia and Suriname this year… UnionPay International is working with major institutions in Hong Kong, Kenya, and Nepal in jointly developing the international version of the UnionPay app.”


What's New in Payments

Japanese banks to roll out blockchain-based instant payments

Ripple powered mobile app to provide on-demand domestic payments in Japan — Ripple — “MoneyTap allows the bank consortium customers to make instant domestic payments and only requires a bank account, phone number, or QR code… The Japan bank consortium, led by SBI Ripple Asia, is comprised of 61 banks covering more than 80% of all banking assets in Japan… Three members of the Japan bank consortium: SBI Net Sumishin Bank, Suruga Bank and Resona Bank will be the first to go live on the mobile app in autumn of 2018. This will be followed by a staggered roll out to the rest of consortium.”


What's New in Payments

Mastercard lets small businesses sign up for mobile payments via Facebook Messenger

Mastercard uses Facebook Messenger to help small businesses go digital — Mastercard — “To get started, businesses can send a request to the bot to enable QR payments, receive approval from the bank, set up an account and start accepting digital payments in a fast, simple and secure manner. Once the account setup process is complete, business owners can print and display the QR code in their stores or save the code on their phones… This Messenger experience will launch in Nigeria”


What's New in Payments

Japan’s major banks to launch QR mobile payments platform

Japanese megabanks team up on mobile payments — Nikkei Asian Review — “Japan’s three megabanks are working together to standardize a smartphone payment system using QR codes… The three banks are also looking at establishing a jointly financed company to oversee the system. Other large banks and smaller regional banks will be invited to join.”


What's New in Payments

Korean card companies to launch joint NFC payments service in bid to combat Chinese QR threat

Korean credit card companies to introduce a joint mobile payment system in March — Business Korea — “Eight domestic credit card firms have completed the development of NFC standard ‘Justouch’ and will jointly promote it by supplying 25,000 readers across the nation by the end of next month… They are concerned about the possibility of Chinese counterparts encroaching on the domestic market if they don’t take action now as mobile payment is very common in China.”


What's New in Payments

Thai temple takes donations via QR codes

Temple goes digital with QR payment for donations — Bangkok Post — “It is hoped use of the system will solve the headache caused by thefts of money from donation boxes and ensure transparency in the handling of donations through the use of e-banking… When a donation is made using QR code an alert is sent to temple monks and laymen via a mobile app.”


What's New in Payments

Hong Kong banks to offer QR payments to 18m debit card holders

Jetco Pay adds new merchant payment service supported by eight banks — Jetco — “Jetco today announced the launch of Jetco Pay Merchant Payment service jointly with eight banks, including Bank of Communications (Hong Kong), Bank of East Asia, Chong Hing Bank, Dah Sing Bank, ICBC (Asia), OCBC Wing Hang Bank, Shanghai Commercial Bank and Wing Lung Bank. The service allows consumers to make in-store QR code payment easily, while in-app or online payments can be completed quickly and securely by inputting only their mobile phone number. The fact that the service is linked to the bank account also means that consumers do not have to worry about topping up.”


What's New in Payments

Nets to use taxi drivers to recruit new mobile payments merchants

Nets roping in 15,000 cabbies to nudge hawkers to go cashless — The Straits Times — “To coax hawkers to go cashless, e-payment giant Nets is going to enlist the help of an unconventional army: ComfortDelGro’s 15,000 cabbies. The cabbies will get a ‘monetary reward’ for every hawker they get to sign up to use the Nets QR code system… This Hawker Champion programme is now being tested by 100 cabbies, and will be rolled out to the full fleet in the next few months. The tie-up will help hasten the national effort to get more transactions to go cashless.”


What's New in Payments

Amazon tests its own QR codes

Amazon is experimenting with its own QR code style ‘SmileCodes’ — Techcrunch — “Amazon has apparently been testing these codes in pop-up shops and Amazon Lockers in Europe for a few weeks now, but the company says these codes will make their US debut in a few different magazines (Cosmopolitan and Seventeen) come February… It’s probably safe to assume we’ll eventually see Amazon tinker with putting these codes on another massively common canvas: its own boxes.”



What's New in Payments

Dutch banks ING and Rabobank begin QR code payments pilot

ING and Rabobank customers can now try out Payconiq — Payconiq — “Payconiq allows their users to simply pay online and in-stores by scanning a QR code. Thanks to a direct connection with the user’s bank account, transactions can be swiftly processed against low costs for the merchants… Consumers can already pay at over 45,000 merchants in Belgium and Luxembourg and soon in Germany where Payconiq has been released earlier this month.”


What's New in Payments

WeChat opens unmanned store in Shanghai

WeChat opens its first unmanned store in Shanghai — ECNS — “Shoppers need to scan a QR code with their WeChat app to enter the store. Sensors at the exit detect the shopper’s selections and automatically charge their WeChat wallet when they go through a ‘payment door’… WeChat payment industry operations director Bai Zhenjie said it takes less than 0.1 seconds for a customer to pay a bill. He added that facial and image recognition technology may be adopted in the store in the future.”


What's New in Payments

Six in ten Chinese consumers have experienced a mobile payments security threat

Quick take: Mobile payment fraud rises in China, report finds — Caixin — “A China UnionPay survey of 105,000 people found that 60% had been exposed to some kind of mobile payment security threat, including information leaks, fraud or malicious attacks… Nearly 30% of users reporting mobile payment fraud said QR codes were involved, up from 15% last year.”


What's New in Payments

Japanese NFC pioneer NTT Docomo to introduce QR code payments

NTT Docomo to start QR code payment — NHK — “Major Japanese mobile carrier NTT Docomo says its subscribers will be able to pay at stores using a QR code… The payments will be added to a monthly bill, or deducted from a credit card. Subscribers will have to download an app on their smartphone to use the service. It will be available at some 19,000 retailers and restaurants nationwide. Docomo says that figure will rise to 100,000 in a year.”


Transit Ticketing Today

Shanghai Metro installs QR code readers at ticketing gates

Shanghai Metro to accept mobile-app payments — Caixin — “QR code-readers are being installed in all 389 metro stations in the city, which will allow passengers to use an app developed by metro operator Shanghai Shentong Metro Group. The app – dubbed ‘Metro daduhui’ – will connect to the payments systems of Alipay and China UnionPay.”


What's New in Payments

Malaysia’s first cashierless store opens in Subang Jaya

Malaysia’s first self-service convenience store has opened in Subang Jaya — Says — “Following the likes of Amazon and Alibaba, an e-payment operator has opened Malaysia’s first unmanned, self-service convenience store… Customers are required to download the Irispay app, fill in personal details, and scan the QR code on the products before making payment.”


What's New in Payments

Alipay reports mobile payments adoption stats

Mobile devices handle some 80% of Alipay’s online payments in 2017 — ECNS — “New data from Alipay show 82% of the transactions on its platform in 2017 were made through mobile devices, mostly smart phones. This ratio is said to be an all-time high… There were 520m Alipay users in China, or around 37% of the country’s population, in 2017… More than 40m small retailers across China, according to Alipay, established their own quick response codes in 2017… Bus and subway networks in more than 30 Chinese cities began allowing passengers to pay fares via Alipay through 2017.”


What's New in Payments

China’s central bank to begin testing QR code payments registration and settlement regulations from April

China’s central bank to standardize QR code payment — Xinhua — “The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced plans Wednesday to regulate QR code payment to contain risks arising from the popular service. Payment institutions must obtain proper permits to offer barcode-based payment services, according to a document released by the PBOC. Both banks and non-banking payment institutions must channel cross-bank transactions involving barcodes through the clearing system of the PBOC or other legal clearing houses… The standards will be put into trial use from April.”


What's New in Payments

China’s central bank caps static QR code transactions at US$76

China begins regulating QR code payments — The Verge — “The regulations will initially cap payments by traditional QR codes to 500 yuan, or about US$76. When additional security measures are applied, the cap can raise to 5,000 yuan, or around U$765. At an even higher security level, banks and payment processors are given discretion over the cap.”