Kroger, the US supermarket chain that has previously held out against the introduction of NFC payments, has begun piloting NFC-based contactless payments in 61 of its QFC grocery stores in Oregon and Washington states... More
Samsung Pay
Orange Bank introduces mobile-first debit card in Spain
Customers of Orange Bank in Spain will now be automatically issued with a digital debit card that they can use to instantly begin making mobile payments both online and in-store — and can also request a companion physical card that comes without a printed card number, CVC code or expiration date... More
Taipei light rail offers 50% discounts to mobile payment users
Passengers travelling on Taipei’s Danhai Light Rail service over the next three months will receive a 50% discount on the usual fare when they choose to pay with their mobile phone, operator New Taipei Metro Corporation (NTMC) has announced... More
Samsung Money to go live in the US this summer
A new Samsung Money by SoFi service due to launch in the US “later this summer” will provide “a mobile-first money management experience that brings a cash management account and a Mastercard-branded debit card along with exclusive benefits into Samsung Pay,” the company has announced... More
Australia records sharp increase in NFC mobile payments adoption
A total of 10.8% of Australians are now using Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay, up from 7.1% a year ago, a new report from market researchers Roy Morgan has found... More
Samsung Pay unveils plan to launch its own debit card
Samsung has announced plans to introduce “a new Samsung Pay experience” that combines “an innovative debit card backed by a cash management account”... More
Commonwealth Bank reports surge in digital wallet transactions
Digital wallet transactions grew 17% in March 2020, outpacing the average monthly compound growth rate of 6.7% over the past six months, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) reports... More
Samsung Pay goes live in Kazakhstan
Samsung Pay is now live in Kazakhstan, with the backing of nine local banks — Altyn Bank, Alfa Bank, ATF Bank, CenterCredit Bank, Eurasian Bank, ForteBank, Halyk Bank, Jýsan Bank and Sberbank... More
TfL signs £2m payments promotion deal with Google Pay
Google has agreed to pay Transport for London (TfL) £2m (US$2.56m) for the right to place Google Pay branding on all of London Underground’s 5,686 tap in/out card readers for a year... More
Sao Paulo to roll out contactless payments across bus network
All buses in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo will accept payments via Mastercard and Visa contactless cards, Samsung Pay, Apple Pay and Google Pay by the end of this year, local business magazine Exame reports... More
Contactless payments expand to Miami bus services
Miami-Dade County’s Department of Transportation and Public Works has rolled out support for contactless payments across its Metrobus fleet, making it possible for commuters to use contactless cards and NFC mobile phones to pay for both bus and rail fares across Miami, the sixth most densely populated city in the US... More
Samsung adds Promoted Cards to Samsung Pay in Australia
Samsung has teamed up with financial services comparison site Finder to add a credit card shopping feature to Samsung Pay, “enabling everyday Australians to discover compelling credit card offers from participating financial institutions” from within its mobile wallet... More
CIBC lets customers instantly add a replacement bank card to their mobile wallet
Customers of Canada’s CIBC bank can now replace a lost or stolen credit card “in a few simple steps through mobile or online banking and instantly use the new card with their mobile wallet before the physical card arrives”... More
Apple Pay takes top slot as most popular mobile payments app in the US
Three in ten US smartphone owners now use a mobile payments app to make payments in stores — and Apple Pay is now the most popular with 30.3 million users, according to new research by eMarketer... More
Samsung begins global rollout of mobile POS app that lets merchants accept payments on standard Android phones
Samsung’s NFC phone-based contactless payments acceptance service is now live in Canada and is to be introduced globally “starting in 2020”, the company has announced... More
Paris to use host card emulation to boost NFC transit ticketing availability
The number of passengers able to use the NFC transit ticketing system which went live in Paris in September is to be increased in 2020-21 with the addition of support for host card emulation (HCE)... More
Samsung Pay adds digital cash card and money transfers
Samsung Pay users in the US are now able to send international money transfers from within the mobile payments app — and use a new Samsung Pay Cash account to make payments in stores and online “right from the Samsung Pay app”... More
Atac brings contactless transit ticketing to Rome
Passengers using the subway and local trains in the Italian capital city of Rome can now use their contactless bank card to pay for the journeys they make each day — and can also opt to use their card as a replacement for their monthly travel pass... More
Contactless transit payments go live in Miami
Passengers using Miami-Dade Transit’s Metrorail service can now pay for their travel using a contactless card issued by Mastercard, Visa or American Express, make mobile payments using Google Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay or select to use Fitbit Pay to pay with a wearable device... More
MTA reports ‘much higher’ than expected Omny contactless transit payments adoption in New York
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Agency (MTA) says its new Omny open loop contactless payments system recorded its one millionth transaction on 8 August, “a remarkable milestone accomplished at a much higher usage rate than initially estimated”... More