“In some parts of the developed world, NFC can sometimes be a solution looking for a problem but we’ve got plenty of problems here in Africa and it is an ideal solution for quite a few of them,” says mobile money expert Susie Lonie. More
Mobile payments provider Powa Technologies has acquired Hong Kong-based MPayMe for US$75m and signed up Taiwan Mobile to offer its PowaTag mobile payments platform... More
Prepaid voucher provider Groupon has launched an iPad-based point-of-sale terminal that uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to let merchants “instantly recognize their Groupon customers as they enter their business, seamlessly redeem Groupons and save time and money.”... More
McDonald’s Austria is rolling out a new mobile ordering and payments service that lets users place their orders on their mobile device and pay using PayPal, a credit card or a stored value Paybox account... More
Standard Bank, one of South Africa’s largest financial services groups, has launched a service that allows small merchants to accept mobile payments by simply placing a QR code at their point of sale, with no POS terminal required... More
Mobile network operator Vodafone is expanding the functionality of its mobile wallet beyond NFC with a deal to add Austria-based Bluesource’s Mobile-Pocket technology to the service, enabling customers to store hundreds of loyalty, membership, transit and promotional cards in their Vodafone wallet by simply scanning them in using the camera on their smartphone. More
Groupe Le Duff, owner of 1,260 restaurants and bakeries, is piloting a mobile wallet developed by mobile shopping solutions provider Airtag in 20 of its Brioche Dorée quick service bakery outlets in France... More
Clear Channel Outdoor is to equip 75,000 out-of-home advertising sites in 23 countries around the world with its Connect mobile advertising platform, allowing consumers to interact with brands via NFC tags, QR codes and, in Latin America, via SMS... More
Wirecard has integrated support for host card emulation (HCE) into its mobile wallet platform, “enabling telecommunications companies, financial service providers, banks and also retailers to quickly enter the mobile payment market through near field communication.”... More
German payments technology provider Wirecard has added support for Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to its mobile wallet platform... More
Mobile network operator Vodafone‘s NFC mobile wallet is going live today in Spain, will be available in Germany in mid-December and expand to the Netherlands, UK and Italy in spring 2014... More
Payment technology provider Wirecard has introduced NFC Single Tap, a service that enables customers to use an NFC phone to pay for goods, redeem a voucher and pick up loyalty points all in a one tap... More
German carrier E-Plus is to launch a mobile wallet in Spring 2014, enabling customers to make payments with an NFC phone as well as collect and redeem loyalty points and discount vouchers using QR codes... More
South African mobile transaction platform provider WiGroup is testing an NFC payments and coupon solution with one of the country’s largest retailers, the company has told NFC World, and now plans to bring the technology to Europe... More
A new social currency that will work as a loyalty and rewards service for local businesses in the Russafa district of Valencia, Spain’s third largest city, is set to launch in the coming weeks... More
A group of financial, technology and telecoms companies have formed Mobile Wallet Initiative Austria, a new organisation that aims to create an open nationwide standard for NFC mobile wallets... More
Guinness has installed 11,442 drink dispensers equipped with NFC functionality in pubs and bars across the UK, as well as 2,800 in Ireland. Plans call for a further 53,000 founts in the UK and 12,155 in Ireland to get NFC by 2015. More
Couponing technology provider and clearinghouse Acardo, which serves more than 10,000 retail locations across Europe, has signed a strategic partnership deal with mobile commerce specialist CorFire to enable NFC acquisition and redemption of vouchers through mobile wallets... More
The GSMA has published a proposed technical specification for a common standard for managing loyalty cards, coupons and vouchers in a mobile wallet — and is asking for feedback on its proposals from retailers, loyalty and coupon scheme operators... More
Loyalty and payments specialist Eagle Eye Solutions has been granted US and European patents for an EMV-based digital coupon and gift voucher solution that allows point-of-sale terminals to be used to both process card payments and redeem vouchers and coupons... More