Samsung Pay has gone live in Puerto Rico with support from Banco Popular, the country’s largest bank. The service is supported by MasterCard and Visa and is available from mobile network operators AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Claro. More
Professional golfer Graeme McDowell has been equipped with a payment-enabled jacket by MasterCard for The 145th Open at Royal Troon this week that will let him pay while he plays by tapping his sleeve on a contactless reader. More
Employees at NEC Corporation’s head office in Tokyo are trialling the use of facial recognition to authenticate purchases made in small shops inside the building. The trial began in June 2016 and will run until August as part of NEC’s efforts to “apply its biometrics authentication technologies to a range of services including cashless payment”. More
Apple Pay captures the greatest proportion of eligible users in the US with 33%, followed by Samsung Pay with 23%, research released by Auriemma Consulting Group (ACG) reveals. However, Samsung Pay users report higher satisfaction levels and fewer issues at the point of sale compared to Apple Pay users, with near equal proportions recommending both mobile payment services. More
French NFC trade association AFSCM has partnered with three major mobile network operators to roll out SIM-based NFC services in France. The association is working with Oberthur Technologies (OT) to build a common hub with Bouygues Telecom, Orange and SFR which will enable a “massive launch of NFC services” in the country. More
ING and Belgian bank KBC are to launch a mobile payment and loyalty platform in Belgium that will combine ING’s Payconiq mobile payment app with loyalty platforms Qustomer and CityLife in a single service. More
Customers who pay using NFC mobile payments are more likely to leave a tip, according to a survey by mobile POS provider Square. 73% of customers tipped when using NFC mobile payments compared to 71% who tipped using EMV and 67% who paid using magnetic stripe cards at the point of sale. More
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon manufacturer Estimote has added programmable NFC into its new range of Proximity Beacons to make it easier to identify and configure the devices and to enable a range of consumer experiences such as confirming payment, collecting loyalty points and clocking in. More
PARTNER NEWS: Digital payment solutions provider Proxama is to supply transaction automation solutions provider Printec Group with its NFC mobile payment, PIN management, tokenization and EMV enablement solutions across Central and South-Eastern Europe. More
Swiss luxury watchmaker Swatch has launched its Swatch Bellamy NFC payments watch in Brazil in partnership with Visa in time for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. More
US supermarket giant Walmart has completed its nationwide rollout of Walmart Pay, making the service available in more than 4,600 stores across the country. The retailer has also recorded a 45% increase in Walmart Pay transactions in the last week. More
Apple Pay has begun rolling out across Switzerland, allowing consumers to make in-store and in-app payments using their compatible devices. The mobile payment service launches with support from MasterCard and Visa as well as card issuers Bonus Card, Cornercard and Swiss Bankers. More
Barclaycard has unveiled Loop, the fourth product in its bPay contactless payment device range, which comes in the form of a contactless chip and lets consumers add NFC payment capability to the wearable devices they already own. More
A 29-page white paper that explores the payment industry of Bangladesh and includes a detailed examination of its current systems, the evolution of alternative payment methods and the uptake of NFC, tokenization and EMV is now available to download from the NFC World+ Knowledge Centre. More
New Zealanders are being rewarded with experiences such as flights, helicopter rides and VIP event access whenever they are close to Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons installed in 120 Heineken locations across the country via the beer maker’s Heineken Live mobile app. More
Customers at supermarket giant Auchan Retail France stores will soon be able to pay for purchases on their mobile phone using NFC or QR codes through the Fivory mobile wallet. The retailer has teamed up with payment solutions provider Oney and MasterCard to support the service which was piloted by French bank Credit Mutuel-CIC in April 2014. More
Customers of National Australia Bank (NAB) can now use the bank’s NAB Pay host card emulation (HCE) based mobile payment service to have lost or stolen Visa credit cards instantly re-issued to their mobile devices... More
Customers of banks belonging to Danish banking collective The Bokis Partnership will soon be able to make host card emulation (HCE) based mobile payments via a service that uses an HCE and tokenization platform from digital payment services provider Nets and Carta Worldwide. More
PARTNER NEWS: Chip maker NXP has released a high performance NFC controller designed for use in consumer electronic devices as well as developer demo kits that interface with a range of popular prototyping platforms. More
The Bluetooth-based mobile keyless entry solution unveiled by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide in November 2014 has been extended to select Le Méridien, Westin, Sheraton and Four Points hotels, with “many additional properties” expected to go live with SPG Keyless over the coming months... More