Samsung Pay has gone live in Hong Kong with support from Mastercard, Visa and American Express and banks including Bank of China (Hong Kong), Citibank, DahSing Bank, DBS and Standard Chartered. The launch takes the mobile payment service to a total of 17 markets globally and follows its debut in Taiwan earlier this month. More
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Samsung Pay goes live in Taiwan with seven banks
Samsung Pay has been launched across Taiwan with support from Visa and Mastercard along with seven major banks including Citibank, Cathay United Bank, E.Sun Commercial Bank, Taishin International Bank, Fubon Bank, Union Bank of Taiwan and Standard Chartered. The service supports iris scan authentication for those with Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ devices. More
Android Pay gets improved loyalty features and eases redemption at the point of sale
Google has unveiled a range of new features for Android Pay designed to make it easier for users to save their loyalty cards to the mobile payment service and use Android Pay’s Smart Tap technology to redeem points and offers at the point of sale through a single tap of their NFC device. More
Carrefour and BNP Paribas unveil “universal” mobile payments and loyalty service
Supermarket giant Carrefour and French bank BNP Paribas have unveiled a new QR code-based mobile payment platform that will let customers make in-store, online and peer-to-peer (P2P) mobile payments as well as store loyalty cards, coupons and special offers on their mobile device. More
Android Pay v1.22 prepares Visual ID facial recognition based on Hands Free and reveals testing for Brazil, Trinidad & Tobago, and Canada
Android Pay v1.22 prepares Visual ID facial recognition based on Hands Free and reveals testing for Brazil, Trinidad & Tobago, and Canada — Android Police — “Visual ID is a secure way to confirm your identity at participating stores, making it easier to do things like earn loyalty points and redeem rewards”
Facebook tests in-store QR code rewards
Social media giant Facebook is testing a Rewards feature that lets users scan a personalised QR code to get discounts or bonuses when they make an in-store purchase... More
HSBC adds Apple Pay in Australia
HSBC has become the latest bank in Australia to add support for Apple Pay... More
UK restaurant chains test digital mobile banking receipts tied to customer purchases
Restaurant chains Eat and Bel-Air are piloting a service in their London locations that delivers real-time receipts to a customer’s mobile banking app by linking to the purchases they make using their bank cards at the retailer’s point-of-sale terminal. The service is also being trialled by UK challenger bank Monzo. More
WeChat Pay and offline mobile payments see “incredibly high” uptake in China
Nine in ten Chinese mobile internet users (92%) choose mobile payment apps such as WeChat Pay as their primary offline payment method today, research released by Tencent Online Media Group’s newly launched research project China Tech Insights reveals, while “smartphone built-in payment tools” such as Apple Pay are currently used by approximately 12%. More
US Bank ties credit card points to mobile payments
Customers of US Bank will be offered a high-end credit card from 1 May 2017 that will award them triple points per dollar spent through a mobile payment made using Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay or Microsoft Wallet... More
NXP and GCL Technologies offer NFC tamper evident closure solution for wine and spirits brands
PARTNER NEWS: Guala Closures Group, a world leader in security closures, has teamed up with NXP to introduce an NFC-based tamper evident closure solution for the wine and spirits industry that is designed to protect brands, enable advanced anti-counterfeiting and tamper-proofing and enable brand owners to make VIP offers, loyalty rewards and more available to customers through a tap of their NFC mobile device. More
Consumers get chance to win prizes at the point of sale
Consumers can now be offered the chance to win prizes related to the purchases they make both in-store and online by playing games such as scratch cards and slot machines that are integrated into a merchant’s payment confirmation pages online and at the payment terminal in a store. More
Amazon customers get in-store cash deposits to fund online payments
Amazon customers across the US can now top up their Amazon balance using cash at “thousands of participating convenience, grocery and drug stores” by showing a printed barcode or a barcode on their mobile device to the cashier. They will then be able to use the funds to make online purchases at Amazon. More
Esso customers get mobile payments and rewards at 1,000 Canadian gas stations
Motorists across Canada can now pay for fuel and car washes as well as accumulate loyalty rewards using a mobile payment service that is being rolled out by fuel retailer Imperial Oil to 1,000 Esso-branded gas stations nationwide. More
Offers increase US mobile payment transaction frequency in stores by 50%
Transaction-based incentives are driving the use of mobile payments both in-store and in-app across the US, research from Auriemma Consulting Group (ACG) shows, with those who received an incentive to use mobile payments in-store over a one-week period doing so 4.6 times compared to 3.1 times for those not offered an incentive... More
Apple Pay goes live in Ireland with support from Mastercard, Visa and two banks
Apple Pay has been launched across Ireland with support from Mastercard, Visa, KBC and Ulster Bank, allowing customers to make in-store, online and in-app payments using their compatible devices... More
Apple Pay begins major promotional campaign in Japan
Apple is promoting adoption of Apple Pay in Japan via a two month campaign that offers a wide range of rewards and benefits to consumers who choose to use the NFC payments service. More
Mahindra Comviva adds offers and promotions to mobile money platform
PARTNER NEWS: Mahindra Comviva is making it possible for mobile money operators to increase user engagement with the addition of a new service that enables relevant offers and promotions to be delivered automatically to users’ mobile devices... More
Australia’s retailers join the banks in their battle with Apple Pay
The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has come out in support of the group of four Australian banks seeking stronger negotiation powers with Apple over the introduction of Apple Pay in the country, saying they believe access to the NFC functionality in the iPhone would allow retailers to provide “a richer and more convenient customer experience”... More
Visa promotes contactless payments with gold prize draw
Visa cardholders are being automatically entered into a lucky draw for the chance to win one million Thai Baht (US$28,100) worth of gold whenever they use their contactless card or Samsung Pay at more than 20 retail chains across Thailand... More