US bank Wells Fargo is piloting a face and voice authentication system with 100 customers using its mobile app on their iPhones... More
USA
Residence Inn trials augmented reality
Hotel chain Residence Inn by Marriott is to pilot image recognition and augmented reality technology that will allow guests to scan beverage coasters to access interactive experiences, including games and food and drink suggestions, on their smartphones... More
Rhombus launches SMS mobile payments platform in the US
Payments startup Rhombus has launched a platform in the US that lets consumers send payments and donations to businesses on any mobile device by texting the amount owed and a description of what they want to buy to a dedicated Rhombus number... More
Facebook expands free Bluetooth beacon program
Facebook is offering free Bluetooth beacons to select businesses across the US that will enable them to send “useful and relevant” information to customers about the places they visit... More
Credit union to add Touch ID
Montgomery County Employees Federal Credit Union is working with digital banking provider Digital Insight to add Touch ID to its mobile banking apps... More
Wegmans to add loyalty card to Apple Pay
Wegmans will be among the first US supermarkets to offer customers the ability to redeem discounts while using Apple Pay... More
Two in three US POS terminals to be EMV by 2020
The installed base of EMV terminals in the US will reach about 65% by the end of 2020, a new report from GrowthPraxis has found... More
Williams-Sonoma adds shoppable videos
US houseware and home furnishing retailer Williams-Sonoma has launched a four-part video series that uses YouTube’s new “shoppable” technology to allow its online shoppers to buy the showcased products with a click through Visa Checkout. The first video is now live online while the following three will follow later this summer... More
Apple Pay adds loyalty cards and expands to UK
Apple Pay will be available in the UK from July 2015, vice president of Apple Pay business Jennifer Bailey has announced at the iPhone maker’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Users of the mobile payments service will also be able to add store credit, debit and loyalty cards to their Apple mobile wallet from “this fall”. More
Google files contact lens authentication patent
Google has filed a patent with the US Patent and Trademark Office that describes a contact lens which collects reflected light through sensors to assemble an image of the iris that is then matched against a stored image to authenticate the wearer... More
Less than a quarter of top US retailers accept Apple Pay
Fewer than a quarter of the National Retail Federation’s list of the top 100 US retailers are now accepting Apple Pay, with nearly two-thirds saying they will not be accepting it this year and only four saying they have plans to add support in the next 12 months, research conducted by Reuters has found... More
Verizon announces investment in SimplyTapp
PARTNER NEWS: Verizon Ventures, the investment arm of US carrier Verizon, has revealed that it was the undisclosed lead investor in a Series B funding round for HCE specialist SimplyTapp that totalled US$6m... More
AT&T boss admits mobile payment failure
The CEO of AT&T has admitted that the US carrier’s mobile payment efforts have failed in light of the closure of Softcard, the joint venture between it, T-Mobile USA and Verizon... More
Kantar: 13% of US iPhone 6 owners have used Apple Pay
Some 13% of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus owners in the US have used Apple Pay and 11% are planning to do so, a survey conducted by Kantar Worldpanel has revealed... More
Pinterest integrates Apple Pay into Buyable Pins
Visual discovery app Pinterest is to let its users make payments through Apple Pay on its platform by clicking on Buy buttons that will be integrated into a retailer’s page, including those from Macy’s, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom... More
Google demonstrates how Android Pay will work
Google has demonstrated how its Android Pay mobile payments service will work for making in-store and in-app purchases, for payments made through a banking partner mobile app, and how users will be able to pay for items such as a Coca-Cola from a vending machine using just the points stored in a customer loyalty account. More
Ingenico backing for Android Pay
Point-of-sale terminal maker Ingenico has announced its smart terminals will be able to process Android Pay transactions as well as supporting the service’s loyalty and offers functionality... More
Google to trial hands-free mobile payments
Google has announced it will pilot a new payment service in the San Francisco Bay area later this year that will let users make hands-free, in-store mobile payments without having to get their phone out of their pocket... More
Samsung files contactless fingerprint patent
Samsung has filed a patent in the United States that reveals a touch-free fingerprint recognition system, using a device’s camera and matching the fingerprint to a stored image... More
First West Credit Union unveils contactless wristband
First West Credit Union has introduced the Dashband, a wearable payment wristband that comes equipped with Visa PayWave technology to allow wearers to make contactless payments. More