Customers purchasing food and beverages from Shake Shack outlets in the US using the Cash App payments platform can opt to receive a 15% cashback reward in bitcoin... More
Rewards
Scotland trials digital micropayments as rewards for recycling plastic
Consumers in Glasgow in Scotland can now take part in a pilot scheme that rewards participants with a micropayment made directly into a digital wallet on their smartphone every time they recycle a single-use plastic bottle... More
Carnival adds support for on-shore contactless payments to on-board wearable payments device
Passengers on Princess Medallion Class cruise ships can now use their Princess Medallion NFC-enabled wearable device to make contactless payments at on-shore merchants that support leisure travel giant Carnival Corporation’s Medallion Pay payments service... More
Public transport users in the Philippines get NFC top-up for contactless fare payment cards
Public transport users in the Philippines can now top up their Beep prepaid contactless fare payments card directly from their NFC-enabled smartphone... More
Brazilian football club Atlético Mineiro lets fans authenticate special edition jerseys with NFC
Fans of the Brazilian football club Atlético Mineiro who purchase one of its collectible ‘Manto da Massa 113’ football jerseys can authenticate their purchase and unlock digital content by scanning an NFC tag embedded in the top with their smartphone... More
Israeli supermarket chain to roll out scan-free self-checkout ‘smart carts’
Customers at Machsanei Hashuk supermarkets across Israel will soon be able to select and place items they want to buy in a self-checkout “smart cart”, receive personalised recommendations, product information and promotions via an on-cart screen, and pay for their purchases without needing to scan them or use a checkout... More
JR East launches contactless coffee shop with AI-powered robot barista
Rail passengers at Tokyo and Yokohama stations in Japan can now order, collect and pay for coffee made by a six-armed AI-powered robot barista — known as Ella — at a fully automated contactless coffee shop... More
Singapore rewards transit users for open loop contactless fare payments
Passengers travelling on public transport services in Singapore can now participate in a game to earn reward points for making open loop contactless fare payments by tapping their bank card or mobile wallet on an onboard reader or station gate... More
US grocery stores trial AI-powered self-checkout shopping carts
Two US stores owned by retail giant Albertsons are trialling a self-checkout shopping trolley that enables customers to select and scan items while they shop, compare products and receive personalised recommendations via an on-cart screen, and pay for their purchases by inserting or tapping their payments card without visiting a checkout... More
Dublin coffee shop rolls out reusable contactless payments cup
Customers at a Bear Market Coffee outlet in Dublin in Ireland can now pay for their beverages and receive rewards by using a reusable contactless payments cup purchased from the coffee retailer... More
Major banks, retailers and fintechs to support rollout of national QR payments and rewards system in Australia
Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank as well as supermarket chains Coles and Woolworths and fintechs Azupay, Beem It and Merchant Warrior have confirmed they will support the rollout of the national QR payments and rewards platform developed by Australia’s Eftpos payments system... More
Emirates NBD records 34m contactless transactions during eight-week rewards programme
Customers of Emirates NBD bank in the United Arab Emirates completed 34m contactless transactions during eight weeks of the bank’s ‘Get Together. Go Contactless’ promotion. “The ‘Get Together. Go Contactless’ campaign has accelerated the adoption of contactless payments substantially,” the bank says. 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
Amazon offers US$10 credit to customers who pay by palm
Amazon is promoting its Amazon One in-store biometric access and payments system by offering customers US$10 credit when they register their palm to gain access to and make payments in stores equipped with the company’s contactless palm scanning technology... More
Unspent stored value on Starbucks prepaid cards nears US$1.63bn
Starbucks customers have accumulated a total unspent balance of US$1.628bn on the company’s prepaid physical and digital reward and gift cards, the coffee giant’s 2021 Q3 earnings call has revealed... More
Resorts World brings mobile payments to Las Vegas gaming tables
Gamblers at Resorts World Las Vegas in Nevada in the US will soon be able to purchase gambling chips for table games including blackjack, baccarat and roulette, as well as place contactless cashless bets at slot machines, directly from a digital wallet on their mobile phone... More
Virgin Hotels lets guests check in with mobile ID
Guests staying at Virgin Hotels in four US cities can now securely verify their identity, check in and receive a mobile room key via an app on their iOS or Android device before arriving at their hotel... More
Coca-Cola gives away mobile wallet credits for ‘free Cokes’ in US restaurants
Consumers in the US can now receive a US$2.50 credit to their mobile wallet that they can use to buy a Coca-Cola beverage at any restaurant that accepts card payments... More
Octopus to let Hong Kong cardholders pay for transit fares in mainland China
Octopus users in Hong Kong will soon be able to pay for public transport fares in more than 300 cities in mainland China with a new physical transit card to be launched “by the end of this year or early next year”, according to a South China Morning Post (SCMP) report... More
Hong Kong and Macau to distribute stimulus payments to citizens’ digital wallets
The governments of Hong Kong and Macau are to stimulate consumer spending by distributing digital payment vouchers that residents can store in their mobile wallets or on a prepaid smartcard and then use to make purchases from retailers and other local businesses... More