Unlock your superpowers with Android Pay and Justice League — Google — “If you use Android Pay today, you’re in for a surprise. Like our beloved animations of space explorers, Halloween haunts, and Wimbledon players in the past, five of our Android bots have channelled their superpowers to become Justice League Super Heroes in celebration of the movie… You’ll have the chance to collect Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Cyborg or Aquaman when you pay in stores.”
Retail
Pinterest rolls out QR-like Pincodes for stores, brands and magazines
Introducing Pincodes! Discover ideas from brands and publishers — Pinterest — “Nordstrom will now feature Pincodes throughout select stores. When you come across one, just pull out your Pinterest app to unlock a little inspiration, like Nordstrom’s carefully curated Gifts Under $100 board. You’ll also start seeing Pincodes on products from Kraft Heinz (just imagine the recipes you’ll turn up!), in select Home Depot stores, from auto companies like Kia’s exhibit in the LA Auto Show and throughout the December issue of Real Simple.”
Sony explains the history, current status and future development of mobile payments in Japan
NFC mobile payments have been a reality in Japan since 2004 when Sony and mobile network operator NTT Docomo formed a joint venture to bring the technology to market... More
Chatbots to issue over 1bn coupons a year by 2022
Digital coupon redemptions to surpass $90bn by 2022 — Juniper Research — “Juniper has quantified the volume of chatbot coupons as 25m this year, with this set to reach 1.1bn by 2022. The technology will enable greater personalisation of offers; particularly through use via social media, and at a fraction of the cost of using human operatives, and will aid in driving commerce transactions both online and in-store… Mobile will account for nearly 80% of all coupon redemptions by 2022.”
Facebook applies for patent for face recognition payments in stores
Facial recognition identification for in-store payment transactions — USPTO — “One or more implementations involve receiving a payment request to initiate an in-store payment transaction between a user and a merchant, the payment request including an image of the user. One or more embodiments identify a payment account for the user based on the image and send a payment confirmation request to a client device of the user. Additionally, one or more embodiments process the in-store payment transaction based on a confirmation response received from the client device.”
Chinese retail giant to open unmanned stores with face recognition and RFID tags
Suning to open four new unmanned stores in China — Suning — “Highlights include: Facial recognition — After linking a bank card and going through the facial recognition on Suning Finance app, customers will be able to enter the store simply by letting the camera scan their faces at the entrance. Effortless shopping experience — To check out, shoppers only need to carry their goods along the payment pathway. The system will automatically recognize the shoppers and their items with the facial recognition and RFID technology – making the entire check-out process shorter than 15 seconds.”
BNP Paribas brings WeChat Pay to Europe
BNP Paribas launches WeChat Pay in Europe — BNP Paribas — “A ‘first’ in Europe, the WeChat Pay solution is being initially rolled out at the two Paris flagship stores owned by the Galeries Lafayette Group – Galeries Lafayette Haussmann and BHV Marais.”
Apple Pay Cash goes live in latest iOS and watchOS public beta releases
Apple Pay Cash now available in beta on iOS 11.2 and watchOS 4.2 — 9to5Mac — “The new feature lets you send and receive payments using Apple Pay over iMessage as well as pay in stores with a new Apple Pay Cash virtual debit card… Apple Pay Cash will be available for all customers in the United States when iOS 11.2 and watchOS 4.2 are officially released, and developer and public beta testers can start using the feature today.”
USA Technologies to acquire Cantaloupe Systems for US$85m
USA Technologies to acquire Cantaloupe Systems — USA Technologies — PARTNER NEWS — “USA Technologies Inc, a premier payment technology service provider of integrated cashless and mobile transactions in the self-serve retail markets, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Cantaloupe Systems Inc, a premier provider of cloud and mobile solutions for vending, micro markets, and office coffee service, in a transaction valued at approximately $85 million.”
Carnival explains how its NFC and BLE devices will power next-generation cruise ship guest experiences
Carnival Corporation’s Michael Jungen explains how the world’s largest leisure travel company will use its new NFC and BLE-enabled Ocean Medallions to provide guests with a wide range of personalized, next generation services on board its cruise ships in an in-depth paper which is now available to download from the NFC World Knowledge Centre. More
Auriemma reports 5% dip in mobile payment usage in US stores
Security concerns and problems at the register continue to depress mobile pay usage and net promoter scores — Auriemma Consulting Group — “Many Pay users run into problems at checkout… Half of those who had problems at a retail location that accepts mobile payments say the issue made them use the service less often overall… In fact, 45% of in-store Pay purchasers quit trying to use mobile payments entirely, and use a physical card instead.”
Mastercard demos payments in augmented reality
Mastercard eyes the future of retail with Augmented Reality shopping experience — Mastercard — “This new AR experience from Mastercard will not only let shoppers view digital representations of products before they commit to a purchase, but also learn more about what they are buying, see additional options not available in the physical location and get instant recommendations or other information relevant to their unique experience. When done shopping, users can pay for items using Masterpass, which will first authenticate the user’s iris.”
PayPal to turn Venmo P2P payments app into ‘ubiquitous digital wallet’
Venmo now accepted at millions of retailers — PayPal — “Starting this week, Venmo customers can use their Venmo account to shop and make purchases on their mobile phone at more than two million US retailers, almost everywhere PayPal is accepted… Our vision for Venmo is to not only be the go-to app for payments between friends, but also a ubiquitous digital wallet that helps consumers spend wherever and however they want to pay, regardless of device.”
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.”
M-Pesa rolls out contactless tags and wristbands for faster mobile money transactions in stores
Safaricom extends M-Pesa 1Tap — Safaricom — “Following successful trials over the last four months in Nakuru, Safaricom has today announced the availability of M-Pesa 1Tap in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Eldoret and Nyeri… To make a payment, a merchant will key in the payment amount into their device, tap the customer tag, and the customer will then key in their pin on their phone to validate the payment. This cuts down the steps involved from more than eight steps using the M-Pesa tool on SIM cards to just one step for the customer.”
GlaxoSmithKline puts NFC tags on store shelves
Thinfilm and GlaxoSmithKline bring NFC technology to leading over-the-counter brand Flonase — Thinfilm — “GSK introduced interactive ‘smart’ Flonase shelves in retail stores across Canada in an effort to educate consumers about the new product and guide them in their purchasing decision… The cloud-based platform integrates with the NFC hardware, enabling GSK to manage tags remotely, deliver custom messaging and content, view real-time consumer tapping activity, and develop valuable consumer insights through built-in analytics functionality.”
Supermarket giant Carrefour launches mobile wallet in China
Carrefour unveils digital wallet, teams up with China UnionPay to develop mobile payment ecosystem — Yicai Global — “Europe’s largest retailer, France-based Carrefour SA, has introduced its own mobile wallet dubbed CarrefourPay and joined hands with China UnionPay, a bankcard provider, to build a mobile payment ecosphere… The cross-industry partnership will see both firms working together in such areas as general payment platforms, membership systems, secure payments, big data analysis and smart retail.”
Ant Financial signs mobile wallet joint venture deal in Hong Kong
CK Hutchison and Ant Financial form strategic partnership to provide digital financial inclusive services in Hong Kong — CK Hutchison — “The two companies will form a joint venture to offer a consumer-oriented digital wallet under the ‘AlipayHK’ brand… CK Hutchison Group and its affiliated companies’ consumer networks have over 124m retail loyalty members and over 123m telecom and 35m utility customers… The joint venture is expected to be completed by the end of 2017, subject to regulatory approval.”
UK supermarket pilots self-checkout service that lets shoppers scan and pay by smartphone
Sainsbury’s to launch app which helps customers avoid checkout queues — The Independent — “Sainsbury’s are currently testing the app at their London Euston station store meaning that shoppers can buy the £3 ‘On the Go’ meal deal by simply scanning the products and paying using their phone. As soon as payment is confirmed, customers are free to leave the store without the hassle of time-consuming queues.”
UK consumers warm to face verification at the point of sale
Shoppers give thumbs up to in-store biometrics — Worldpay — “Just under two thirds (63%) of consumers want to be able to use a biometric scan to authorise payments in-store. When it comes to using our body parts to pay, 69% of consumers say they’d be open to using a finger. But respondents are also beginning to come around to the idea of using their face (24%), iris (33%), and voice (18%) to identify themselves at the point of sale.”