Mobile payments consortium MCX will test its CurrentC mobile wallet in Columbus, Ohio, in the coming weeks, The Wall Street Journal reports... More
USA
MCX member Rite Aid to accept Apple Pay and more
US pharmacy chain Rite Aid, a member of the MCX retailer-owned mobile payments consortium, will accept Apple Pay and other mobile payment services in its stores from August 15, following its decision to stop accepting NFC payments in the wake of the launch of Apple Pay in October last year... More
Apple Pay gets 98% satisfaction rate for in-store purchases
Apple Pay has gained a 98% satisfaction rate among those that have used the mobile payments service to make an in-store payment in the US, Auriemma Consulting Group’s Marianne Berry has told NFC World, adding that the average number of in-store Apple Pay purchases per week among all users now stands at 2.6... More
PaidEasy raises $2m in seed funding
Mobile payment startup PaidEasy has announced a seed round of funding valued at US$2m... More
11% of US retailers integrate loyalty with payment app
Some 11% of US retailers have already integrated a loyalty program into a mobile payment app, while 40% plan to do so within the next two years and 20% in three to five years, research from Boston Retail Partners reveals... More
Target tests Bluetooth beacons in 50 US stores
US retail giant Target has begun testing Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons in 50 stores nationwide to send deals and recommendations on nearby products directly to a shopper’s smartphone running the retailer’s iOS mobile app... More
Hampton Inn hotels install beacons in Seattle
Guests at hotel chain Hampton Inn are to be greeted with personalised messages, digital concierge services, directions and tailored offers on their smartphones via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons deployed across Seattle... More
Twitter to offer Buy buttons with Shopify
Twitter is reportedly integrating with e-commerce platform Shopify to offer its Buy buttons to a wider range of businesses... More
Apple adds 46 US banks to Apple Pay
Apple has added an additional 46 banks and credit unions to its list of supporting financial institutions in the US... More
Amex cardholders use reward points for Best Buy purchases
American Express card members in the Membership Rewards program can now use points to pay for online purchases at US retail giant Best Buy... More
US IT decision makers unprepared for EMV
Some 42% of US IT decision makers have taken no steps or are unaware of any progress being made in the migration towards EMV, research from Randstad Technologies finds, with only 58% actively preparing in time for the October liability shift deadline... More
US shoppers make more mobile payments
One in seven US shoppers has made a mobile payment during the last year and 68% are using alternative payment methods more often than a year ago, a survey by Blackhawk Network reveals... More
Subway adds PayPal to mobile app
Restaurant chain Subway is to add PayPal as a payment option in its mobile order and pay app to allow customers to make in-app and in-store payments in 27,000 US locations... More
42% of US iPhone 6 owners use Apple Pay in May and June
More than two fifths of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users reported having used Apple Pay between the end of May and mid-June, with 84% making more than three in-store transactions, the bi-monthly Apple Pay tracker from Auriemma Consulting Group (ACG) reveals... More
Jobseekers offered head start on new vacancies with a tap of NFC phone
Jobseekers in Australia, New Zealand, the US and UK could soon be able to get a head start on new vacancies by tapping their NFC phone against signs, posters and window stickers placed in shopping centres and business locations, thanks to a partnership between NFC and contactless platform provider Tapit and mobile and social recruitment app Workible... More
Burger King adds MasterPass to US app
Burger King is to add MasterCard’s MasterPass functionality to its mobile app, allowing customers in the US to find the nearest restaurant, explore the menu and pay directly with their phone... More
US shoppers buying into mobile payments
Almost one in five US consumers (18%) have used a mobile device to make either an in-store or online purchase, up from 16% in 2014 and 12% in 2013, research from Synchrony Financial reveals, based on nearly 7,000 Synchrony Bank cardholders and shoppers nationwide... More
Square ‘files for public offering’
Mobile POS provider Square is reportedly set to go public after the company filed confidentially for an initial public offering... More
Visa signs up 2,300 financial institutions for Visa Token Service
More than 2,300 financial institutions and banking partners have now signed up for Visa’s tokenization service with international expansion set to happen “in the fall”, Visa has revealed during a third quarter earnings call... More
One in five Starbucks sales in the US made with mobile payments
Coffee chain Starbucks is processing nearly nine million mobile payments a week across its US locations, representing 20% of all in-store transactions, CEO Howard Schultz revealed during the company’s third quarter earnings call... More