Carrier billing for Apple services spreads to Denmark, Hong Kong, Sweden — AppleInsider — “The addition of Denmark, Hong Kong, and Sweden bring the total list of countries supporting carrier billing up to 17, across 29 mobile phone networks. The list of countries does include some major first-world nations, including France, Germany, Italy, and Japan, but the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom are notably still absent from the list, among others.”
Hong Kong
UnionPay reports growth in QR code mobile payment volumes
UnionPay reports growth in QR code mobile payment volumes — UnionPay International — “The cross-border transaction volume of mobile QuickPass, the UnionPay mobile payment product, doubled in the first half of this year. More notably, more overseas customers are using mobile QuickPass. The transaction volume of mobile QuickPass used locally in Hong Kong and Macau more than tripled and the transaction of mobile QuickPass by Hong Kong and Macau cardholders in mainland China grew by over seven times year-on-year.”
UnionPay mobile QuickPass QR code payment landed in Hong Kong and Singapore
UnionPay mobile QuickPass QR code payment landed in Hong Kong and Singapore — UnionPay International — “After UnionPay mobile QuickPass QR code payment was launched on May 27 in mainland China, UnionPay International announced today to extend this service to Hong Kong and Singapore… The newly launched QR code payment is a significant supplement to NFC payment.”
Android Pay goes live in Taiwan with CTBC and First Bank
Android Pay has launched in Taiwan, taking the mobile payment service to a total of 13 markets following its debut in Canada earlier this week... More
Android Pay begins its rollout across Canada
Android Pay has begun rolling out across Canada with support for eligible Visa and Mastercard credit cards from BMO Bank of Montreal, CIBC, Banque Nationale, Scotiabank, Desjardins, President’s Choice Financial, ATB Financial and Canadian Tire Financial Services as well as prepaid Scotiabank and Desjardins cards... More
Samsung Pay rolls out across Hong Kong following early access launch
Samsung Pay has gone live in Hong Kong with support from Mastercard, Visa and American Express and banks including Bank of China (Hong Kong), Citibank, DahSing Bank, DBS and Standard Chartered. The launch takes the mobile payment service to a total of 17 markets globally and follows its debut in Taiwan earlier this month. More
Ant Financial enters Hong Kong market with AlipayHK mobile wallet
Ant Financial enters Hong Kong market with AlipayHK mobile wallet — South China Morning Post — “The mobile wallet and payments app, dubbed AlipayHK, is similar to its Chinese counterpart Alipay — registered users are able to top up their mobile wallets and make in-store payments that are settled in Hong Kong dollars at merchants such as Watsons, Fortress and at supermarkets like ParknShop.”
Android Pay enters 11th global market with launch in Russia
Google has launched its Android Pay mobile payments service in Russia, allowing those with eligible Visa and Mastercard credit or debit cards issued from 15 supporting banks and financial institutions to make in-store and in-app payments using their compatible mobile devices. More
Android Pay continues international expansion
Android Pay will be rolled out to a number of additional countries including Brazil, Canada, Russia, Spain and Taiwan over the “coming months”, Google’s director of engineering for payment products Varouj Chitilian has revealed... More
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
Samsung Pay launches in Sweden and the UAE, enters early access in Hong Kong and Switzerland
Samsung Pay has expanded to four additional markets with official launches in Sweden and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and early access launches in Hong Kong and Switzerland. The service has also been made available on Samsung’s Gear S3 smartwatch in Russia, Sweden and the UAE in addition to its availability on the Gear S3 in the US, Singapore and Australia. More
Android Pay links to mobile banking apps to simplify setup process
Android Pay has been integrated into the mobile banking apps of “several banks around the world” so that users can add their cards to the mobile payment service with “just the click of a button”. The feature will also work for those who have not installed Android Pay on their handset, giving them access to “the capabilities of Android Pay” without having to leave their mobile banking app. More
Apple Pay goes live in Taiwan with support from seven banks
Apple Pay has launched in Taiwan with support from Mastercard, Visa and seven banks including Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank, Cathay United Bank, E.Sun Commercial Bank, Taishin International Bank, CTBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Union Bank of Taiwan. More
Belgium becomes tenth country to go live with Android Pay
Android Pay has launched in Belgium with support for Mastercard and Visa credit cards from BNP Paribas Fortis, Hello Bank... More
Apple Pay goes live in Ireland with support from Mastercard, Visa and two banks
Apple Pay has been launched across Ireland with support from Mastercard, Visa, KBC and Ulster Bank, allowing customers to make in-store, online and in-app payments using their compatible devices... More
Bank of China brings Apple Pay to UnionPay credit cards
Bank of China has become the first bank in Hong Kong to offer Apple Pay with UnionPay credit cards... More
HSBC to launch Hong Kong P2P mobile payments app
HSBC is to launch a P2P mobile payments app in Hong Kong early this year that will allow customers of any bank to transfer money using a recipient’s mobile phone number... More
P2P service expands to Macau
Hong Kong ATM network Jetco has partnered with seven banks in Macau to offer Jetco Pay P2P, the mobile phone number-based transfer service that launched with 12 banks in January 2016... More
Android Pay launches with single bank support in New Zealand
Android Pay is launching in New Zealand initially only for customers of BNZ bank who own a Visa Flexi debit card... More
Android Pay launches in Poland
Android Pay has begun rolling out across Poland, allowing consumers with compatible devices to make payments at more than 400,000 retail locations in the country that accept contactless payments... More