Wells Fargo to add contactless functionality to US credit and debit cards

Wells Fargo accelerates customer checkout experience with new tap-to-pay contactless cards — Wells Fargo — “This week, new Wells Fargo consumer credit cardholders began receiving cards with the contactless feature when opening an account, and existing Wells Fargo consumer credit cardholders will receive a new contactless card when their current credit card expires. Consumer debit cards with the contactless feature will start to become available this summer.”


Walmart to let customers shop for groceries with their voice

Want Walmart to help you grocery shop? With our new voice capabilities, just say the word — Walmart — “Beginning this month, customers can say: ‘Hey Google, talk to Walmart’ and the Google Assistant will add items directly to their Walmart Grocery cart. Best of all, customers can be extra confident that we can quickly and accurately identify the items they are asking for with the help of information from their prior purchases with us. The more you use it, the better we’ll get.”



Amazon Pay begins in-store payments rollout in India

Amazon Pay makes an offline push with ‘scan and pay’ service — Livemint — “We have begun introducing Amazon SmileCode, a new way for our customers to shop and pay at physical stores like Shoppers Stop, among others,” said an Amazon spokesperson. “Customers will soon find Amazon SmileCodes in neighbourhood retail stores, where they can scan and pay for their purchases seamlessly.”



Public Transport Victoria picks NXP’s Mifare 2GO platform for multimodal NFC ticketing

NXP takes Melbourne Transit (Myki) mobile with Google Pay integration for trains, buses and trams — NXP — PARTNER NEWS — “NXP’s Mifare 2GO cloud service is the first to work with Google Pay to enable mobile ticketing in multiple transportation modes and scalability across all compatible Android NFC-enabled phones, giving citizens convenient and efficient travel options in smart cities.”


Samsung Pay enters beta testing in Indonesia

Samsung Pay swipes into Indonesia — KrAsia — “Samsung Pay is partnering with Ant Financial-backed mobile wallet platform DANA to conduct closed beta testing on some devices… In the near future, Samsung Pay will collaborate with more digital payment platforms to expand its services in Southeast Asia’s most populous country… Samsung Pay is available in 24 markets. In Southeast Asia, the app has already landed in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.”



Apple Pay set to launch in Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Greece, and Romania

Apple Pay is coming soon to Austria, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Greece, and Romania — MacRumors — “Mobile banking service N26 today on its Twitter account announced that Apple Pay will soon be available in Estonia, Greece, Portugal, Slovakia, and Slovenia, one day after revealing that Apple Pay is coming soon to Austria. Likewise, ING Bank has announced that Apple Pay is coming soon to Romania… Slovakian bank Slovenská Sporiteľňa confirmed that it will start supporting Apple Pay later this year.”




Mastercard sets out vision for consumer-centric digital identities

Mastercard introduces consumer-centric model for digital identity — Mastercard — “Mastercard’s model embodies privacy by design and does not aggregate identity data. It will enable digital interactions to occur with minimal data exchanged and only when needed, and will safeguard data and the use of data effectively such that the users are in control, with a person’s identity securely bound to their smartphone.”


ING Romania to let customers withdraw cash with just their mobile phones

Surprise from ING — Ziarul Financiar (Translation) — “We noticed that once they used mobile payments, customers no longer used their card except for ATM withdrawals. I think this year we will introduce the possibility to make ATM withdrawals with a mobile phone, without the need for a physical card… ING Bank Romania introduced mobile payments in the summer of 2018 and now has about 70,000 registered users.”


SBI adds cardless mobile cash withdrawals at 16,500 ATMs across India

SBI Yono: The big security advantage for you with this new cardless cash withdrawal — Financial Express — “Customers can initiate the cash withdrawal process by installing the Yona App and setting a six-digit Yono Cash PIN for the transaction and another six-digit reference number for a transaction, which customers will get after initiating the cash withdrawal process on their registered mobile number via SMS, that has to be used within 30 minutes along with the PIN at the nearest Yono Cash point to get the cash… The SBI has enabled 16,500 ATMs for this service, called Yono Cash Points.”


WeChat Pay reports 500% increase in transaction volumes

WeChat Pay supports merchants expanding businesses by bringing its ecosystem to the world — WeChat Pay — “In 2018, the monthly average transaction volume saw an increase of 500% year on year, while the total transaction value increased 400%. Meanwhile, the number of service providers witnessed a year-on-year increase [of] 300%, and the number of merchants accepting WeChat Pay increased 700%. WeChat Pay is now available in 49 markets outside of the Chinese mainland, supporting cross-border payment transactions in 16 currencies.”


Public Transport Victoria to add Myki transit cards to Google Pay

Mobile Myki — Public Transport Victoria — “Mobile Myki is a digital Myki on your Android phone. From Thursday 28 March 2019 it will be available on the Google Pay app… Mobile Myki uses all of the existing Myki gates and readers on Melbourne’s trams, at train stations and on Myki-enabled buses across Victoria. The new technology uses Google Pay on the Android operating system and allows passengers to purchase Full fare, Concession, Child and Senior Mykis using both Myki Money and Myki Pass.”


Samsung Pay promotes mobile payments adoption with prize draw for UK users

Samsung offers customers thousands of prizes with Samsung Pay — Samsung — “To enter the prize draw and be in with a chance to win, new and existing Samsung Pay users must enter the prize draw, then use Samsung Pay to make five transactions by 3 May 2019. Prizes include a 55-inch 2018 Q9F flagship QLED 4K television, a selection of 42mm Galaxy Watches and Samsung Level Box Slim Bluetooth speakers as well as 64GB Micro SD cards.”




Visa seeks product manager for cryptocurrency team

Technical Product Manager, Visa Fintech — Visa — “As a product manager on the Visa Crypto team, this person will have responsibility for executing Visa’s product strategy within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. This highly motivated individual will be responsible for managing a product roadmap and collaborating with key stakeholders across the strategy, risk, research and engineering organisations.”