What's New in Payments

Mastercard comes under fire for sharing transaction data with Google

Google and Mastercard cut a secret ad deal to track retail sales — Bloomberg — “For the past year, select Google advertisers have had access to a potent new tool to track whether the ads they ran online led to a sale at a physical store in the US. That insight came thanks in part to a stockpile of Mastercard transactions that Google paid for… Google paid Mastercard millions of dollars for the data, according to two people who worked on the deal.”



NFC World

Google rolls out Titan Security Keys with NFC

Titan Security Keys: Now available on the Google Store — Google — “In July, we announced Titan Security Keys, Fido security keys built with a hardware chip that includes firmware engineered by Google to verify the keys’ integrity. Starting today, Titan Security Keys are available for purchase on the Google Store… Security keys can be used to authenticate to Google as well as Dropbox, Facebook, GitHub, Salesforce, Stripe, Twitter, and other services that support Fido standards.”


What's New in Payments

Xiaomi to launch Mi Pay mobile payments in India?

Chinese firm awaiting RBI approval to start India operations — The Hindu BusinessLine — “According to sources, Chinese mobile smartphone maker Xiaomi is ready to launch its payment service, Mi Pay, in the growing Indian payments market. Xiaomi, currently India’s second-largest smartphone seller, has already conducted trials and testing of the UPI service, and is awaiting RBI approval for the launch, said two sources.”


NFC World

Wear OS update lets smartwatch users make faster NFC payments

Google’s redesigned Wear OS might make smartwatches worth buying again — Mashable — “Previously, if you wanted to use Google Pay on your smartwatch, you’d need to launch the app, which was a multi-tap process. Now, you can make a payment much quicker. It’s not as quick as double-pressing the side button on the Apple Watch to fire up Apple Pay, but it’s way faster than the old way.”


NFC World

Trimble adds NFC to commercial driver tracking system

Trimble enhances FieldMaster Logs with Tap & Go technology to improve driver experience with ELDs — Trimble — “With our new Tap & Go technology, drivers will be able to leverage secure near field communication (NFC) technology to streamline the login process. With just the tap of a compatible keychain, sticker or ID card, they are able to log in to their in-cab tablet, making it easy and quick to access and start their ELD [Electronic Logging Device] workflow. This will ensure that drivers no longer need to spend valuable time manually typing in lengthy usernames and passwords which can cause frustration. With a simple tap, they are into the system and can focus on getting their work done.”


What's New in Payments

Samsung Pay adds support for discount vouchers in the UAE

Samsung Pay Vouchers launched in UAE — TradeArabia — “Starting August 29, Samsung Pay users can purchase vouchers offering 50% off in more than 200 locations across the UAE… To redeem Samsung Pay vouchers, just select the voucher in the Samsung Pay app and click ‘Use’. Pass the phone to the cashier to enter the Merchant PIN, which will display the voucher code. Show the code to the retailer and enjoy 50% off in a convenient, one-step process.”




Google rebrands its Tez mobile wallet to Google Pay

Building services for every Indian, in their language — Google India — “Since launching our India-first payments app Tez last September, over 22 million people and businesses have used Tez to make over 750m transactions that are collectively worth over $30bn annually. We believe that many of the innovations and features we have pioneered with Tez will work in other countries. To take Tez beyond India, we will be unifying all of Google’s payment offerings globally. As a first step, Tez will now be called Google Pay.”



What's New in Payments

PayPal updates mobile app for P2P payments

Fast, simple and secure – Introducing the improved PayPal app — PayPal — “We’ve streamlined the app design to make it easier for customers to view their balance, get notifications, and move money from nearly wherever they are. We’ve moved the Send and Receive money buttons, so they’re always at customers fingertips on the home screen. Also, when sending and requesting money, we’ve made it simpler for customers to add their photo and personalize their contact list, so they can feel more confident they’re sending money to the right person.”




Berkshire Hathaway invests in Indian mobile payments provider Paytm

Berkshire Hathaway confirms investment in Paytm parent One97 Communications — Economic Times — “Berkshire Hathaway has confirmed that it has made an investment in Paytm parent One97 Communications… ET had reported that Berkshire Hathaway is in talks to invest about Rs2,000-2,500 crore (US$285m-US$356m) in One97 Communications, that could value the company at $10bn. One97 Communications already counts China’s Alibaba Group Holdings and Japan’s Softbank among its major investors.”


NFC World

Clause to add NFC to smart blockchain contract platform

Thinfilm and Clause collaborate to deliver NFC technology to blockchain smart legal contracts — Thinfilm — “Clause and Thinfilm will use NFC to facilitate the pairing of physical goods to digital contracts through the tap of a smartphone. The resulting connection will deliver key functional and efficiency improvements for customers across the Clause ‘connected contracting’ platform, including contract creation and management, supply chain administration, and invoice/payment automation.”


What's New in Payments

Chinese banks report 73% growth in mobile payment transactions

Mobile payment on fast growth in China — Xinhua — “The country’s banks processed 14.92bn mobile payment transactions in Q2, up 73% year on year, according to the People’s Bank of China. The value of these transactions totalled 62.88tn yuan (US$9.15tn), up 60% year on year… Online payment transaction value by non-banking institutions totalled 48.29tn yuan in Q2, up 53.35% year on year.”




NFC World

Pernod Ricard unveils connected cocktail glass that uses NFC to place orders in bars

Pernod Ricard launches a connected glass with Havana Club — Pernod Ricard — “The glass is equipped with an NFC chip that allows the consumer to order a cocktail in a bar… At home, the same technology gives the user access to the ‘Cocktail Club’ web app to find ideas for cocktails, recipes, shopping list based on the ingredients the user already has at home and the number of guests, etc.”