India’s ICICI, IDFC First and Kotak Mahindra banks have begun enabling selected merchants to accept contactless in-store payments made using the retail version of the prototype digital rupee as part of the first phase of the Reserve Bank of India’s retail central bank digital currency pilot... More
The Central Bank of Bangladesh is trialling an interoperable payments system that will enable customers of more than 15 major banks and payment service providers to pay for their purchases by scanning a standardized QR code at a participating merchant’s point of sale with their smartphone... More
Residents of Townsville in northern Queensland will soon be able to store and use digital versions of their driving licence, marine licence and photo ID cards on their smartphone when the Australian state launches the next phase of its Digital Licence app trial prior to a state-wide rollout due later this year... More
Passengers travelling on train services operated by JR West between two railway stations in the Japanese city of Osaka will soon be able to test a contactless biometric ticketing system that enables them to pay for their fares with their face... More
McDonald’s is testing an automated contactless system at an outlet near Fort Worth in the US state of Texas that enables customers to order, pay for and collect food and beverages prepared by staff in the outlet’s kitchen from a conveyor belt without needing to use a conventional checkout or pick up their orders from a front-of-house employee... More
Passengers who use a wheelchair travelling on services operated by Osaka Metro in Japan are the first to trial a biometric contactless fare payment system that enables them to pay by passing through a wheelchair-accessible ticket gate equipped with face recognition technology... More
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is this week launching a pilot scheme in four Indian cities to test the retail version of its prototype central bank digital currency (CBDC) for both in-store and peer-to-peer transactions, the central bank says... More
Passengers on British Airways (BA) flights from London Heathrow’s Terminal 5 to Malaga in Spain will be the first to trial a contactless biometric check-in and boarding system that will enable them to travel through the airport and board an international flight without needing to show their passport... More
The Sella banking group in Italy is piloting a biometric credit card that enables users to authenticate both contactless and contact payments with their fingerprint with selected customers of its subsidiary consumer credit company Sella Personal Credit... More
Some 30 banks and payment services providers in Spain, including BBVA, Banco Sabadell, Banco Santander, ING, Deutsche Bank and Iberpay, have set up a working group to test the use of a digital euro for contactless in-store payments as well as ecommerce transactions and peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers... More
UK supermarket chain Tesco is to open three hybrid stores that give customers the option of choosing a checkout-free, automated shopping experience, an unattended self-checkout station or a conventional, manned checkout... More
Customers purchasing laptops, tablets, smartphones and accessories from a branch of Polish retail chain Komputronik in the city of Wroclaw can now pay for their purchases using a biometric payments system that uses a combination of iris and face recognition technology... More
Apple Pay has gone live in a number of shopping malls in Kuwait prior to a full rollout in the country “soon”, according to media reports... More
Consumers hiring bicycles from micromobility provider Swapfiets are the first to be able to sign up for a new service from Dutch bank ABN Amro that enables them to use a single app to create a digital ID and then use it both to sign up and to pay for third-party services... More
The European Central Bank (ECB) is to trial five prototype digital euro payment solutions to test how front-end user interfaces and back-end infrastructure can be integrated to enable users to make peer-to-peer, point-of-sale and ecommerce payments with the proposed central bank digital currency... More
Dutch retail chain Hema is to trial a software-only point-of-sale (sPOS) solution that enables staff to accept contactless payments on any Android smartphone or tablet without needing any additional hardware or accessories... More
Danish public transport fare system provider Rejsekort & Rejseplan (RKRP) is trialling a hands-free automated app-based mobile ticketing system on bus and train services in Denmark’s North Jutland region as part of plans to develop a national digital mobility solution combining travel planning, booking, ticketing and payment across private and public modes of transport... More
Rail operator NS in the Netherlands is to pilot a contactless open loop fare payment system that will enable passengers to pay for their train fares by tapping their physical debit or credit card or their digital debit card stored on a smartphone or smartwatch at the beginning and the end of their journey... More
Fans of German football club 1 FC Köln have trialled a team scarf incorporating an NFC chip that can be used instead of a conventional ticket to gain access to the stadium and also enables users to access exclusive real-time digital content during a match... More
Football fans in Mexico can now make contactless payments from a stored-value digital wallet to buy Corona beer at selected matches at Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium using an NFC chip attached to the inside of a soccer jersey... More