Apple has updated its list of Apple Pay supporting financial institutions in the UK, with the additions of Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank... More
United Kingdom
Most Brits want contactless payments on familiar wearables
More than two thirds of UK consumers (67%) who use contactless payments would prefer the function to be added to something they already own or wear, rather than purchase a brand new wearable payment device. More
British athletes at Rio 2016 sport NFC payment bands
All British athletes competing at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games are being given NFC payment bands that will allow them to make purchases by tapping their wrists against a contactless terminal. More
US and UK consumers warm to mobile payments, loyalty and coupons
The majority of US and UK consumers (54%) have now used a mobile wallet, research from Urban Airship reveals, with 30% of respondents using them in the past week. More
BBA reports UK contactless increase
The annual use of contactless cards across the UK has risen 250%, with £1.1bn spent in March 2016 alone, research released by the British Bankers Association (BBA) reveals... More
Mastercard takes majority stake in VocaLink
Mastercard has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 92.4% of UK payments infrastructure operator VocaLink for approximately £700m (US$920m)... More
Apple Pay adds 13 US banks
Apple has added a further 13 banks and credit unions to its list of Apple Pay supporting financial institutions in the US... More
Square preparing for European launch
Mobile POS provider Square has incorporated a business called Squareup Europe in the UK, suggesting that the company could be setting itself up for its first European launch... More
Apple promotes Apple Pay with iTunes gift cards
UK and US consumers are being encouraged to sign up and use Apple Pay with a £5 or $5 iTunes gift card at Apple retail stores across both countries... More
Droplet to close down
UK-based mobile payment and rewards platform Droplet is to be discontinued... More
Samsung Pay to launch in Brazil this month
Samsung Pay will begin rolling out across Brazil on July 19, Samsung has confirmed, making it the first market in South America to introduce the mobile payment service. It will be supported by both MasterCard and Visa as well as Banco do Brasil, Brasil Pré-Pagos, Caixa, Porto Seguro, and Santander. More
Europeans keen to use biometric authentication for payments, says Visa
More than two thirds (68%) of European consumers want to use biometrics as a method of payment authentication, research from Visa reveals, and 73% see two-factor authentication as a secure way to confirm an account holder’s identity. More
Android Pay launches in Australia
Google has begun rolling out its Android Pay mobile payment service in Australia with support from American Express and Visa. The service will be available from 27 banks and credit unions at launch and from an additional seven financial institutions “soon”. MasterCard support is expected “in a few days”. More
TfL to license contactless ticketing system across the globe
Transport for London (TfL) is to begin licensing its contactless ticketing system to other major cities across the globe as part of a deal worth up to £15m with Cubic Corporation’s business unit Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS). More
Samsung Pay launches in Puerto Rico
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
Golfer to showcase contactless payments jacket at Royal Troon
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
TSB to support Android Pay in Q4
Customers of UK bank TSB will be able to add their cards to Android Pay and make payments using the mobile payment service from the fourth quarter of this year... More
Barclaycard Loop adds NFC payments to any wearable device
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
Seqr adds four more countries
Swedish mobile payment specialist Seamless has launched its Seqr mobile payment platform in Austria, Ireland, Malta and Luxembourg... More
Starwood expands keyless entry to hotels worldwide
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