Expanding the Android Security Rewards Program — Google — “The Android Security Rewards (ASR) program was created in 2015 to reward researchers who find and report security issues to help keep the Android ecosystem safe… Today, we’re expanding the program and increasing reward amounts. We are introducing a top prize of $1 million for a full chain remote code execution exploit with persistence which compromises the Titan M secure element on Pixel devices.”
Research
Brits warm to biometric verification
Just under half of British consumers are ready to completely replace traditional verification methods with biometrics for withdrawing cash (46%), starting their car (45%) and unlocking their front door (41%), according to new research from Equifax... More
RBR reports 10% growth in global payment card market
Continued growth in China cements UnionPay as the world’s largest card scheme — RBR — “There were 16bn payment cards in circulation at the end of 2018, up by 10% since a year earlier… The largest scheme worldwide is UnionPay, which accounted for 45% of cards in circulation at the end of 2018… Visa (including Visa, Visa Electron, V Pay and Interlink) made up 20% of the world’s cards… Mastercard (Mastercard, Maestro and Mastercard Electronic) accounts for 16% of all cards.”
Survey pinpoints roadblocks to US mobile payments adoption
A major investigation into US consumers’ attitudes to mobile payments has found that concerns over how well they would be protected against loss should an issue arise is now the major barrier to widespread adoption of the technology... More
Bluey Merino to use NFC tags to guarantee the authenticity of its clothing
Bluey Merino, an Australian active and outdoor clothing brand that produces garments exclusively made from premium Merino wool, has developed NFC labels that customers can use to confirm the origin of the wool in their new product by simply scanning the label with their NFC mobile phone... More
Researchers develop stretchable NFC antennas for clothing
A team of researchers from universities in the UK and China have developed a way to use standard machine embroidering equipment to add NFC capabilities to items of clothing so that the technology continues to work reliably even when the fabric is stretched out of shape by the wearer... More
Mobile phones to become ‘primary source of identity’ for over 3bn people
By 2024, nearly 40% of the global population will have been issued with a mobile digital identity document, Juniper Research forecasts — a total of more than three billion people... More
Researchers showcase method for bypassing contactless card limit
Hack breaks your Visa card’s contactless limit for big frauds — Forbes — “To carry out their hack, the researchers used a specialised piece of hardware to intercept and insert messages in the communications between the card and the reader. For instance, they could tell the card that verification — like a PIN — wasn’t needed, even though the requested amount was more than £30. They then told the terminal that verification has already been made by another means.”
Digital wallets to be used by half the world’s population by 2024
Half the world’s population to use digital wallets by 2024 — Juniper Research — “A new study from Juniper Research has found that the number of people using digital wallets will increase from 2.3bn this year to nearly 4bn, or 50% of the world’s population, by 2024. This in turn will push wallet transaction values up by more than 80% to more than $9tn per annum.”
Four in ten POS terminals now accept contactless payments
Have contactless cards become the tool of choice for low-value payments? — RBR — “At the end of 2017, there were 5.3bn contactless cards in circulation worldwide — this represents 35% of all cards, a share that RBR forecasts will increase to 57% by 2023… The number of eftpos terminals worldwide which allow contactless payments rose by 41% in 2017 to reach 40.9m.”
Analysts: Contactless card rollout could push US mobile payment users back to plastic
Familiarity with mobile payments could help to drive adoption of contactless cards in the US but could in turn move those that have already adopted mobile payments back to physical methods of payment, according to a new issue of Auriemma Research’s Mobile Pay Tracker... More
Analysts: 43% of iPhone users have now enabled Apple Pay
Apple Pay adoption continues to climb — Loup Ventures — “We estimate, based on our survey work as well as the growth in transactions, countries, locations, and banks, that 43% of global iPhone users have enabled Apple Pay. This is up from 36% in Sep-18 and 20% in Dec-17. That implies there are currently 383m Apple Pay users, up 21% sequentially and 135% y/y… We estimate that 24% of US iPhone users have used Apple Pay vs 47% of international users.”
US consumers to pass on mobile payments?
Instore mobile contactless services used by only 14% of online US customers, Juniper survey finds — Juniper Research — “Time is running out for OEM Pay providers to establish a dominant position in the US… Our survey shows that the majority of users who have not adopted OEM Pay are more interested in services like contactless cards than mobile-based payments.”
Chinese mobile payment users set to double by 2023
Mobile payments market in China is expected to witness three-fold growth with doubling of active mobile payment users by 2023 — Frost & Sullivan — “The market of mobile payments services in China is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.8% from 2017 to 2023, growing three-fold from US$29.93 trillion to US$96.73 trillion. The total number of active mobile payment customers is expected to reach 956 million by 2023 from 562 million in 2017 which will attract additional investments from mobile payments market participants.”
IMF report finds digital currencies are gaining ground with central bankers
At least 15 central banks are serious about getting into digital currency — MIT Technology Review — “There are two main reasons for the trend, according to the report. First, new forms of digital money are ‘shrinking the role of cash’. Besides that, some central banks are interested in using the technology to reach the hundreds of millions of people who do not have a bank account or access to modern financial services. Finally, most central banks see the potential to reduce costs by replacing physical banknotes with digital ones.”
Australian banks set to abandon Apple Pay boycott
The three ‘big four’ Australian banks that have held out on offering Apple Pay to their customers after losing a bid to force the iPhone maker to open up its NFC functionality could all now be set to adopt the service in the coming weeks... More
Contactless payments overtake chip and pin in the UK
Contactless payments usage has grown 30% in the UK over the past year to become the most popular card payment type for in-store transactions, Worldpay reports — and the growth is partly driven by an “astonishing” rise in consumer adoption of mobile payment services... More
Survey finds Apple Pay is used for three in four US debit card mobile wallet transactions
Apple Pay makes up 77% of mobile payments among debit card users — Auriemma Consulting Group — “An Auriemma study of debit card issuers shows that Apple Pay makes up 77% of mobile wallet transactions. Samsung Pay and Google Pay, Apple Pay’s main competitors, make up 17% and 6% of transactions, respectively… While Apple Pay has the most market share, Samsung Pay users are the most engaged. In fact, the average Samsung Pay user makes 7.3 transactions each month, compared to 5.5 transactions for Apple Pay and Google Pay users.”
FIS reports on real-time payments market growth
Real-time payment system growth surging worldwide — FIS — “FIS identified 40 live real-time payments programs worldwide as part of its 2018 Flavors of Fast report, up from 25 in 2017 and nearly three times as many as 2014. The report found five payments programs under development, plus another 16 expected to be live in the next 12-18 months.”
Survey: Merchants are winning the US mobile wallet adoption battle
Merchants winning the battle for mobile wallet supremacy — Javelin Strategy & Research — “In the rush to market, the main wallet value proposition, paying at the POS, wasn’t particularly compelling. In reality, loyalty and rewards will drive adoption, something merchants are doing particularly well,” said Krista Tedder, director of payments at Javelin Strategy & Research.”