Three quarters of German consumers (74%) want to be able to make digital payments at all shops, restaurants and other retail outlets, with that percentage rising to 87% among 18- to 29-year-olds, according to a survey by the Bitkom digital association... More
Research
Research identifies lack of global standards as key barrier to implementing Covid-19 health status certificates
A research paper published by the University of Exeter in the UK identifies the lack of global standards as one of the key barriers to the successful implementation of digital and paper-based Covid-19 health status certificates worldwide... More
Apple Pay used for more than 90% of US mobile wallet debit transactions in 2020
The number of debit transactions completed using a mobile wallet in the US rose by 51% year-on-year to approximately 2bn in 2020, with “a noteworthy” 92% of those transactions being made with Apple Pay and just 5% with Google Pay and 3% with Samsung Pay, according to research published in the 2021 Debit Issuer Study... More
University of Queensland pilots multimodal subscription-based Mobility-as-a-Service app
Students and staff at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, are trialling a multimodal Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) app that enables them to purchase a fixed-price prepaid mobility plan for unlimited journeys by bus, train, tram and ferry services across South East Queensland... More
Estonia’s central bank tests blockchain-powered digital euro solution
Eesti Pank, the central bank of Estonia, has tested a blockchain-powered technical solution for the use of a digital euro central bank digital currency (CBDC) that it says is capable of handling more than 300,000 simultaneous payments a second and enables payees to receive a payment in less than two seconds... More
Juniper forecasts contactless card transactions will total US$2.5tn globally in 2021
The total value of contactless card transactions worldwide will reach US$2.5tn in 2021, up from US$1.7tn in 2020, Juniper Research predicts. The researchers also forecast that card payments will retain “the majority share of overall contactless transaction values at 79% in 2021”. More
Researchers unveil fabric-friendly NFC sensors that track tags, everyday objects — and people
Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in the US have developed fabric-friendly NFC sensors that can be woven into the surface of everyday objects such as cushions and pillows and enable them to locate other objects and sense a human presence... More
Researchers unveil dissolvable wireless pacemaker powered by NFC
Scientists at Northwestern and George Washington universities in the US have developed a wireless, battery-free implantable pacemaker that uses NFC to harvest energy from an external antenna and dissolves after it is no longer needed to control a patient’s heartbeat... More
Digital payments now exceed cash for purchases at US vending machines
The average number of digital payments made for purchases from vending machines in the US grew steadily during 2019, finally exceeded those made with cash in April 2020 and continued to increase over the course of 2020, a new study shows... More
UK government to explore biometric contactless corridors for border checks
The UK government is to explore the implementation of walk-through “contactless corridors” at airports and other entry points to the country that will enable passengers to verify their identity using biometrics rather than their passport... More
Hong Kong to explore potential for digital HK dollar
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is launching “a comprehensive study” that will explore the use cases, benefits and risks of developing a digital Hong Kong dollar as a central bank digital currency (CBDC)... More
World Bank finds contactless cards are not yet displacing cash
Contactless payments technology is causing “a sizable increase in the use of debit cards for small-value payments”, but is having an “economically small and statistically insignificant” impact on the use of cash and cash demand, according to a study conducted by the World Bank... More
Chinese banks unveil CBDC hardware prototypes for multiple use cases
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) have unveiled prototype hardware devices that support the use of the digital yuan central bank digital currency (CBDC) across a range of different use cases... More
Forecast: 1.4bn consumers will be using face recognition to authenticate payments by 2025
The number of consumers using software-based facial recognition to authenticate payments worldwide will reach 1.4 billion by 2025, up from 671 million in 2020, according to a forecast by Juniper Research... More
NFC-enabled smart bandage aids healing, could detect Covid-19 symptoms, researchers say
Researchers at the University of Glasgow have developed a smart bandage incorporating wireless sensors and an NFC tag that can monitor a patient’s temperature and skin strain level, apply pressure to help a wound heal and transmit data to healthcare providers via a smartphone app... More
GSMA reports ‘dramatic acceleration’ in mobile money transactions
The number of registered mobile money accounts globally grew by 13% in 2020 to reach a total of more than 1.2bn, according to research by the GSMA... More
European Central Bank reports growth in demand for cash during pandemic
The total value of euro banknotes in circulation rose during the Covid-19 pandemic from €1.3tn (US$1.5tn) at the end of 2019 to €1.4tn (US$1.7tn) at the end of 2020, the European Central Bank (ECB) reports... More
Forecast: OEM Pays to drive more than 180% growth in global tokenization revenue by 2025
Total global revenue from tokenization provisioning and management for mobile payments will exceed US$53bn in 2025, an increase of more than 180% from US$18bn in 2020, according to a forecast by Juniper Research... More
Mobile wallet transaction volumes overtake cash payments in stores
Contactless in-store payments made with a mobile wallet worldwide exceeded in-store cash payments for the first time during 2020, new research reveals... More
Covid-19 pandemic cuts demand for plastic cards
The total value of the global plastic cards market has fallen by US$3bn over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the number manufactured worldwide falling by 19.7% from 37.1bn in 2019 to 29.8bn in 2020, according to the International Card Manufacturers Association (ICMA)... More