Barclays and PayPal announce industry leading partnership — Barclays — “Consumers are expected to benefit from a raft of new features that will make it even easier to manage their PayPal account in Barclays digital channels, and to use their Barclays products in their PayPal digital wallet… PayPal and Barclays will explore unique ways to connect Pingit and PayPal to improve how customers can move and manage their money. The partnership will also explore opportunities for US consumers to redeem Barclays reward points at businesses that accept PayPal worldwide.”
Rewards
Samsung Pay rolls out its rewards program in India
Samsung Rewards now rolling out to Samsung Pay users in India — Financial Express — “Samsung India on Thursday rolled out Samsung Rewards for the users of its mobile payments service Samsung Pay in India where they can collect and redeem ‘points’ to purchase the company’s devices. The programme is already available for Samsung Pay users in other global markets, including South Korea, the US, China, Spain, Singapore, Australia, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Russia, Thailand and Malaysia.”
Dutch retailers sign up for OK mobile payments and rewards app
OK app conquers the Netherlands — OK (translation) — “Major players who will soon offer OK are the Superunie members in food retail like Coop, Deen, Dirk, Spar and DekaMarkt. Food and hospitality services include Febo and Van der Valk, as well as online players such as FonQ and deonlinedrogist.nl. Other partners include GrandVision (Eyewish, Pearle, zonnebrillen.com), Sundays, Verbunt Wines, Jamin, Karwei, Praxis, Vitaminstore and FrieslandCampina.”
Macy’s brings mobile self-checkout to department stores
Macy’s to add mobile checkout to all stores by year’s end — CNBC — “The platform allows shoppers to scan barcodes on items (apparel, home goods, etc) with their phones, as they add merchandise to their baskets in stores. Relevant discounts and rewards will also be applied, via a shopper’s loyalty account, throughout. When customers are finished shopping, they will head to a special counter for mobile checkout, where an associate will remove security tags and make sure the number of items scanned adds up to those paid for. Then, they’re ready to go.”
UK supermarket rolls out in-aisle checkout and rewards
Convenient future in store as Co-op dials-up pay in aisle technology — Co-op — “The innovative move, which harnesses the latest technology, allows customers to scan products on their own device as they walk around the store — known as a ‘frictionless shopping experience’. When they have finished shopping, the amount they owe will then be deducted from their account with a single click… The technology also links information from a customer’s Co-op Membership account — telling shoppers how much they have saved and, how much the Co-op will donate to local good causes following the transaction.”
E-ZPass lets drivers use their toll pass to make purchases from their car
Verdeva’s PayByCar makes in-vehicle payment simple with unprecedented E-ZPass deal — Verdeva — “Anybody who has an E-ZPass transponder in their car can enroll in PayByCar and be able to drive up and pay without ever reaching for their wallet… When a member drives up to a participating retailer, PayByCar recognizes the toll transponder on the car and the presence of the driver’s cell phone. It authorizes and automates payment using the member’s chosen method for Verdeva non-tolling transactions, which is on file with PayByCar, and offers personalized rewards.”
Singapore Airlines to issue blockchain wallet that lets frequent flyers redeem loyalty points in stores
KrisFlyer to launch world’s first blockchain-based airline loyalty digital wallet — Singapore Airlines — “The SIA Group’s KrisFlyer frequent-flyer programme is to launch a world-first blockchain-based airline loyalty digital wallet capability that will help unlock the value of KrisFlyer miles to enable everyday spending at retail partners… It will allow the extensive KrisFlyer membership base to use ‘digital KrisFlyer miles’ for point-of-sale transactions at participating retail merchants.”
Dunkin’ Donuts offers faster pickups to customers who order via mobile
Dunkin’ Donuts unveils next generation concept store in Quincy, MA — Dunkin’ Donuts — “An exclusive On-the-Go drive-thru lane lets DD Perks members who order ahead via Dunkin’s mobile app bypass the ordering lane and merge straight into the line for the pickup window… Dunkin’ Donuts has also introduced an area dedicated to mobile pickups, so that members of the DD Perks Rewards program who order ahead via Dunkin’s mobile app can get in and out of the restaurant faster than ever before.”
LA Metro to offer incentives to NFC mobile ticketing users
Metro plans to roll out new smartphone payment app later this year — Curbed — “The system is expected to be ready for testing this summer, with a full rollout planned for the fall, says Metro spokesperson Rick Jager… Promotions will be available for frequent riders. Jager says these might include incentives for users choosing to ride public transit on smoggy days or a system by which riders could earn points or ‘medallions’ when paying for trips.”
Chase offers 5% cash back on payments made with mobile wallets
Chase Freedom adds new mobile wallets category to 5% cash back rewards for first quarter — Chase — “Cardmembers can earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in quarterly categories during the first three months of 2018, including purchases they make with the card in four mobile wallets. For the first time ever, cardmembers will earn the extra rewards through this new offer when using the following mobile wallets: Chase Pay, Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay.”
Samsung Pay Rewards expands to Spain
Samsung launches Samsung Rewards, a new loyalty program of Samsung Pay — Samsung Spain (translation) — “Users who make purchases with Samsung Pay will receive Samsung Rewards points each time they make a purchase. The accumulated points will be valid for one year and can be exchanged directly for exclusive gifts.”
Alipay pushes into Hong Kong, India, Thailand and the Philippines with Christmas shopping festival
Alipay to hold online 24-hour Christmas shopping festival as part of expansion push — South China Morning Post — “The event will take place in Hong Kong, India, Thailand and the Philippines with Alipay partners in each location: Hutchison in Hong Kong, Paytm in India, Truemoney in Thailand and GCash in the Philippines… As part of the December event, the AlipayHK joint venture has partnered with more than 8,000 bricks-and-mortar stores to offer exclusive gifts, discounts and rewards.”
Target adds mobile payments, coupons and rewards to mobile app
Target launches Wallet in the Target app: A faster, easier way to pay and save — Target — “With Wallet, guests can pay using their Target REDcard and save with Cartwheel — all in a single scan of their phones at checkout… Wallet combines digital savings — Cartwheel offers and Weekly Ad coupons — with the 5% REDcard discount. And, coming soon, guests also will be able to store and redeem Target GiftCards with Wallet.”
Starling Bank integrates third party rewards into open banking platform
Starling and Yoyo Wallet: Enabling loyalty with open banking — Starling Bank — “With any other bank, in order to collect loyalty points you would have to manually pay using the Yoyo app using a QR code scanner. However we have created an experience together with Yoyo, using our APIs, which means you don’t need to use any separate apps to pay. You just need to securely connect your Yoyo account to your Starling account from the Yoyo app and allow Yoyo to view your Starling account transactions. You will then be able to collect loyalty points whenever you use your Starling card, Apple Pay or Fitbit Pay at a merchant partner.”
Samsung Rewards ‘increased the use of Samsung Pay by 48%’
Samsung Rewards: Growing big in year one, with a preview of the year ahead — Samsung — “After a year of growing 25% month-over-month, millions of people are enrolled in and actively use Samsung Rewards. In the first week of November alone, we gained more than one million new users in the United States… We estimate that Rewards increased the use of Samsung Pay by 48%… We are also exploring adding innovative new features that our consumers will enjoy such as peer to peer points sharing and integration with partner loyalty programs.”
Google promotes Android Pay with Justice League bots
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.”
Indian government sets out plans to make digital payments ‘visibly cheaper’ than cash
Govt to incentivise online payments to push digital transactions — Hindustan Times — “The incentives could include cashbacks and reward points for BHIM users… The note presented last week by the ministry of electronics and information technology to Parliament’s standing committee on finance detailed a five-step road map to push e-transactions. ‘Digital payments to be made visibly cheaper than cash,’ the note said.
DBS launches developer platform that gives access to 155 banking APIs
Reimagining banking, DBS launches world’s largest banking API developer platform — DBS Bank — “With 155 APIs at launch for Singapore across more than 20 categories such as funds transfers, rewards, PayLah! and real-time payments, the platform will offer the world’s largest number of, and most relevant, banking APIs… More than 50 companies including household names such as AIG, McDonald’s, MSIG, PropertyGuru, as well as start-ups like Activpass, FoodPanda, Homage, and soCash have already hopped onto the platform.”
Okey Co joins the NFC World Partner Program
NFC World today welcomes Beijing-based Okey Co as a member of our partner program... More
Amex applies for personalized blockchain rewards patent
American Express eyes blockchain for customer rewards systems — CoinDesk — “A new patent application published last week by the US Patent and Trademark Office details a concept for offering customer-specific types of rewards (including points, a virtual currency or specific items tied to a product). The filing indicates the financial giant would make these offers by compiling personalized data about the customer, such as their historic spending patterns.”