PARTNER NEWS: NFC World partners Mahindra Comviva and Rambus are among the 13 companies that signed up to participate in Visa’s token service provider (TSP) platform earlier this month... More
Wearables
Visa to roll out cashless experience at the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017
Visa to roll out cashless experience at the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 — Visa — “Alfa-Bank guests will also be able to use a payment ring for the first time at a FIFA event. The payment ring, attached to a prepaid card, features an embedded NFC-enabled antenna, enabling fans to tap to pay throughout Russia, anywhere contactless payments are accepted.”
Citadele launches contactless mobile payments in Latvia
Citadele launches contactless mobile payments in Latvia — Citadele Bank — “Citadele’s mobile payment service is currently operable in a beta testing programme, where it is being used by Citadele employees and select client groups… Initially, mobile phone payments will be available on the Android operating system… Citadele will soon offer alternative mobile payment solutions for users of other mobile operating systems: bracelets and stickers with near field communication technology.”
NXP issues statement of support for NFC tag reading on Apple devices
PARTNER NEWS: NXP is “excited about the expanding number of users of NFC applications” following the announcement made by Apple earlier this week that it is to add support for NFC tag reading to its iPhone 7, 7 Plus and Apple Watch devices... More
NXP supports launch of common mobile wallet platform across the UAE
PARTNER NEWS: NXP has joined Emcredit, a subsidiary of the Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED), and payments solutions provider Cardtek to launch Empay, a common mobile wallet platform that will enable citizens across the United Arab Emirates to make retail payments, initiate money transfers and pay for government utilities using their NFC smartphone or wearable device... More
Apple Pay to add P2P payments to iMessage through iOS 11
Apple Pay users across the US will soon be able to make peer-to-peer (P2P) money transfers to friends and family using a new feature set to be integrated into Apple’s iMessage platform through the latest iOS 11 operating system... More
Apple Watch to enhance fitness monitoring using NFC tag reading
Apple Watch users will soon be able to tap their device on NFC-enabled gym equipment to sync workout details such as calories burned, speed and distance with the machine for more accurate tracking... More
Xiaomi and Apple tie for the top position as the wearables market swells 17.9% during the first quarter, according to IDC
Xiaomi and Apple tie for the top position as the wearables market swells 17.9% during the first quarter, according to IDC — International Data Corporation — “The worldwide wearables market maintained its upward trajectory during the first quarter of 2017 (1Q17) with Xiaomi and Apple leading all companies and multiple products experiencing double- and triple-digit growth.”
Using your gait to power and secure devices
Using your gait to power and secure devices — CSIRO — “Researchers from CSIRO’s Data61 have developed new technology which uses the way a person walks, their gait, to power wearable devices. The technology also has the potential to be used as a new authentication method, which could replace passwords, PINs or fingerprints.”
Hangzhou buses first to all use mobile pay
Hangzhou buses first to all use mobile pay — China.org.cn — “‘Passengers can use Alipay and UnionPay flash payment cards on this terminal. Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Huawei Pay, Mi Pay and Android Pay can be used with smartphones or wearables like watches and electronic bracelets,’ said Liu Xiaojie, general manager of public services at Ant Financial.”
A guide to tokenization — The essential enabler for expanding the world of commerce
Tokenization is an essential enabler for a larger and more complex commerce world as the Internet of Things (IoT) propels payments to a range of new devices, says Proxama’s vice president of product marketing and product management for payments solutions... More
Skin Motion unveils soundwave tattoos that play audio clips when scanned by a smartphone
Tattoo artists across the US, Australia, Austria and Singapore have signed up to start offering their customers augmented reality tattoos that get inked onto the skin and play audio clips when scanned by a smartphone using a mobile app that is due to be released in June 2017. More
You’ll get a kick out of this: Qualcomm patents the ‘Internet of Shoes’
You’ll get a kick out of this: Qualcomm patents the ‘Internet of Shoes’ — The Register — “Qualcomm sees the shoes not only logging steps and helping navigation, but also monitoring the user’s gait, using the vibration motors to tell users when they should speed up their pace, and tracking both blood pressure and heart rate.”
Sprint to support next generation IoT devices across its nationwide network
Sprint to support next generation IoT devices across its nationwide network — Sprint — “LTE Cat 1 is designed to support low-power applications on the Sprint network such as vehicle telematics and industrial IoT applications. LTE Cat M1 and LTE Cat NB1 are designed to support numerous other applications requiring ultra-low throughput and power consumption such as industrial sensors, asset trackers, or wearables.”
No need to schlep wallet, keys at Universal’s new water park
No need to schlep wallet, keys at Universal’s new water park — The Associated Press — “Universal is debuting a new wristband that can pay for food, open lockers, trigger special effects, set spending limits on the kids and, most importantly, eliminate waiting in lines by sending alerts when it’s your turn for a ride… Unlike Disney’s wristbands, Universal’s Tapu Tapu wristbands have screens on which visitors can get text alerts or see images, and they also vibrate.”
Apple Pay launches in Italy with support from UniCredit and Carrefour Banca
Apple Pay has begun rolling out across Italy with support for Mastercard and Visa cards issued by Carrefour Banca and UniCredit, with American Express, CartaBCC, ExpendiaSmart, Fineco Bank, Hype, Banca Mediolanum, N26 and Widiba listed as “coming this year”. The launch takes Apple Pay to a total of 16 markets globally. More
Contactless retail payments to exceed $1 trillion in transaction value by 2019
Contactless retail payments to exceed $1 trillion in transaction value by 2019 — Juniper Research — “The global value of contactless transactions made via payment cards, mobile and wearables will reach $1.3 trillion by 2019, more than doubling from an estimated $590 billion in 2017 … contactless card levels will continue to dominate transaction values, accounting for 80% of total contactless transactions in 2019.”
Safaricom’s NFC powered M-Pesa 1 Tap payments solution is now official
Safaricom’s NFC powered M-Pesa 1 Tap payments solution is now official — Techweez — “Payment has been simplified because you will only need to have a card or the NFC sticker on your phone or the wristband. So far, M-Pesa 1 Tap already has over 13,000 customers who were signed up within a week in Nakuru.”
Iran launches NFC payments
Iran launches NFC payments — Financial Tribune — “The Central Bank of Iran is developing new mobile payment systems so people may use their smartphones or watches for making purchases, said the director of CBI’s IT Department.”
Kiwis warm to mobile, wearable and biometric payments
Nearly six in ten New Zealanders (59%) think mobile payments will be the next major payments technology to take off, followed by payments using wearables like smartwatches (47%) and biometrics such as facial recognition and fingerprints (42%), research released by Mastercard reveals. More