Supermarket chain Aldi is trialling its first checkout-free contactless store in continental Europe in the Dutch city of Utrecht, enabling customers to enter the store by scanning an app, selecting items from the shelves and then leaving without needing to scan their purchases or use a conventional checkout... More
Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) is trialling a contactless biometric immigration clearance system that enables travellers arriving in the country from Malaysia by car to scan their passport and verify their identity with a face and iris scan without needing to leave their vehicle... More
Westpac bank in Australia is piloting a software point of sale (sPOS) solution that will enable merchants to accept contactless payments on their Android NFC smartphone or tablet without needing any additional accessories or hardware... More
Merchants will soon be able to accept contactless payments directly on their iPhone using Apple’s Tap to Pay feature via the Square Point of Sale (POS) app without needing to connect their device to any additional hardware... More
Customers of Al-Mansour Bank in Iraq will be among the first in the country to be able to trial biometric payment cards that allow them to authenticate contactless payments with their fingerprints... More
Passengers using transport services provided by Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) in Central Falls in the US will soon be able to travel for free when they scan their Wave smart transit card or mobile app on services originating and operating within the city... More
Customers at six 7-Eleven convenience stores in Tokyo, Japan, can now make cashless payments for their purchases by interacting with a holographic screen projected from a contactless self-checkout kiosk... More
China is to launch trials of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) in more cities and regions across the country after rolling out a pilot version of the digital yuan wallet app in January and trialling the CBDC during the Beijing Winter Olympics... More
Motorists in the Australian state of Queensland will be able to store and display a digital version of their driving licence and other proof of identity cards on their mobile device from 2023... More
Consumers using 10 restaurants and retail outlets in the Japanese city of Niigata can now test a biometric payments service that lets them authenticate contactless payments with their face even if they are wearing a mask... More
Householders in Germany, France and the UK are trialling NFC-enabled electric radiators that let users configure the daily heat settings on individual appliances with a tap of their mobile phone... More
Customers at two Asda supermarkets in Pudsey and Stevenage in the UK can now verify their age when purchasing age-restricted products such as beer, wine and spirits using facial age estimation technology... More
Overseas athletes and spectators visiting the Beijing Winter Olympics will be among the first foreign nationals to be able to trial China’s digital yuan central bank digital currency (CBDC) at event venues, nearby merchants and inside the Olympic Village... More
Banks in India, Poland, Iraq, Mexico, Lebanon and Egypt are among those set to trial biometric payment cards that enable customers to authenticate contactless payments with their fingerprints... More
Passengers travelling on Eurostar rail services from London’s St Pancras International station to continental Europe will be able to complete pre-departure ticket and passport checks before they arrive at the terminus via biometric face recognition technology, enabling them to board the train using face verification alone... More
A consortium of more than 70 leading banks, financial services providers and other businesses in Japan is to conduct a series of proof of concept (PoC) trials of a digital currency supported by commercial banks across a range of specific use cases with the aim of rolling the currency out by the end of the 2022 fiscal year... More
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
Nearly three quarters of airline passengers (73%) say they are willing to share their biometric data in order to speed up airport processes and reduce queuing at security, border control and boarding gates, according to an International Air Transport Association (IATA) survey... More
Mercedes-Benz and BP have completed a trial of an app-based digital in-truck fuel payment system that allows haulage drivers to pay without leaving their vehicle or using a fuel payment card... More
Passengers travelling on Metrolinx’s Union Pearson (UP) Express airport rail link in the Canadian city of Toronto can now opt to pay their fares with their contactless debit card as part of the transport agency’s trial of its Presto open payment ticketing system... More