Eagle Creek debuts NFC-connected luggage — Mobile Marketer — “Travellers can see a personalised dashboard that shows all the places they’ve travelled, along [with] a leaderboard that ranks their mileage against the other owners of its line of Caldera luggage. Eagle Creek also provides a lost-and-found feature to help people locate misplaced bags, warranty registration features and detailed product information and videos. Caldera owners also can share information about their trips with their friends, family and followers on major social media platforms.”
- Bank of China lets taxi drivers accept central bank digital currency payments on NFC mobile phones
- Juniper forecasts 25% increase in POS terminal transaction values by 2028
- STMicroelectronics launches NFC tag chip with elliptic curve cryptography
- NFC Forum survey finds majority of consumers now prefer making payments with their mobile phone
- Hello, NFCW readers!
Saudi banks pilot blockchain-based cardless ATM withdrawals
Saudi banks trial blockchain-based identity technology at ATMs — Computer Weekly — “The Saudi Arabian trial will enable local consumers to use their faces and blockchain-based apps to withdraw money from cashpoint machines instead of PINs. The ID authentication prototype, currently under test, can communicate across banks and uses blockchain to confirm an individual’s identity without accessing the bank’s database.”
Societe Generale lets cardholders add personalized bank cards to Apple Pay
Societe Generale brings personalized credit and debit cards to Apple Pay — Societe Generale — “Societe Generale offers over 180 personalised physical cards, but this marks the first time customers will see the exact same card as they have in their wallet in Apple Pay. ‘With Apple Pay’s personalisation mirroring our cards’ personalisation, we are demonstrating continuity between our digital and our physical products,’ said Julien Claudon, head of card and digital payment.”
Visa to let merchants offer instalment plans to cardholders
Visa unveils instalment payment capabilities to give shoppers simple and flexible way to pay — Visa — “Visa’s instalment capabilities are changing the game by allowing issuers to leverage an existing payment account consumers already have and are familiar with, instead of asking them to submit to a credit check, download an app or open another line of credit,” said Sam Shrauger, senior vice president, global head of issuer and consumer solutions, Visa. “We expect instalments to become a foundational method of payment at checkout for both domestic and cross-border commerce payment transactions.”
Apple Pay goes live in 13 new European countries
Apple Pay is now live in Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. More
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Seppeltsfield Barossa adds NFC tags to wine bottles
Historic Australian wine estate Seppeltsfield Barossa is adding NFC tags to the bottles of its new Grounds range of wines, to guarantee the product’s authenticity and verify that the bottle has not previously been opened... More
Swedish banks roll out wearable payments on fashion watches
Customers of Swedbank and Nordea Bank in Sweden are now able to load a Mastercard onto any of a range of fashion watches offered by three local watch brands and then use it to make wearable payments at any Mastercard merchant... More
Visa to acquire Rambus’ payments and ticketing business
PARTNER NEWS: Visa has announced it is to buy Rambus’ payments and ticketing businesses, to “expand enhanced security benefits of tokenization beyond Visa cards to any type of transaction, including domestic card networks, account-based and real-time payments systems.” More
Apple Pay to go live in Greece, Portugal and Slovakia this week
Apple Pay rolls out to Greece, Portugal, Slovakia on Wednesday — Apple Insider — “Following the expansion of Apple Pay into the Netherlands on 11 June, reports indicate banks in three more countries in Europe are adding support to Apple Pay at the same time in the coming week. Believed to take place on June 26, the launches will occur covering Slovakia with multiple banks, as well as Greece and Portugal.”
Apple Pay to add support for Octopus transit cards in Hong Kong
Apple Pay Octopus to launch in Hong Kong with iOS 13 — Ata Distance — “Octopus on Apple Pay will launch in Hong Kong with iOS 13. The iOS 13 beta contains specific Apple Pay Octopus references along with Apple Pay server side references which indicate that OCL is likely field testing with the latest beta.”
EU offers issuers extra time to implement strong customer authentication
Opinion of the European Banking Authority on the elements of strong customer authentication under PSD2 — European Banking Authority — “In order to avoid unintended negative consequences for some payment service users after 14 September 2019, CAs [national competent authorities] may decide to work with PSPs [payment service providers] and relevant stakeholders, including consumers and merchants, to provide limited additional time to allow issuers to migrate to authentication approaches that are compliant with SCA [strong customer authentication].”
Public Transport Victoria reports strong takeup for Mobile Myki transit cards
Nearly 100,000 travellers in the Australian state of Victoria have used the Mobile Myki NFC-based mobile transit ticketing service since its launch in March with adoption set to accelerate further after the addition of support for the Apple iPhone, which is planned for 2019-20.... More
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US Payments Forum sets out best practices for growing contactless payments adoption
Customer and cashier education, experience and communication at the point of sale (POS) are all key factors that need to be addressed to boost contactless payments adoption in the US and overcome the currently fragmented experience, according to the US Payments Forum... More
National Bank of Kuwait claims world first with contactless metal Visa credit card
The NBK Visa Infinite Privilege Credit Card will be offered exclusively to the bank’s private banking customers, and by invitation only, once regulatory approval for the product has been received... More
Phoenix Suns to provide basketball fans with mobile payments and NFC ticketing at Talking Stick Resort Arena
Arizona-based National Basketball Association (NBA) team the Phoenix Suns are to offer fans access to mobile payments and NFC ticketing from within their mobile app, via a partnership with Ticketmaster, that will see the team move to mobile-only ticketing at its Talking Stick Resort Arena from the start of the 2019/20 season in October... More
HonkMobile launches app-free Apple Pay NFC payments
Parking payments specialist HonkMobile has unveiled a ‘virtual parking meter’ that uses Apple Pay’s new support for NFC tags to let iPhone users tap an NFC sticker to quickly make a payment via Apple Pay — without first needing to download an app or register for a service... More
Apple Card pilot expands to ‘thousands of retail workers’
Apple expands Goldman credit card test to thousands of retail workers — Bloomberg — “The Cupertino, California-based company this week launched an internal beta program for the Apple Card with its retail workers, according to people familiar with the initiative. The move marks the first major trial for the card, which has been used for several weeks by a far smaller set of Apple corporate and Goldman Sachs employees.”
China’s Expresspay Card moves into wearable payments
PARTNER NEWS: Expresspay Card, a joint venture between China UnionPay and Bank of China that offers China’s only open loop prepaid card, has partnered with Tappy Technologies and watch brand Saga Watch to offer cardholders a wearable payments option that will be accepted at any merchant equipped to accept China UnionPay contactless payments... More
PayByPhone integrates with Alexa to let drivers pay by voice from their cars
PayByPhone is now available through Amazon Echo Auto — PayByPhone — “To use the PayByPhone skill for Alexa, users must enable the skill and connect their existing PayByPhone account through account linking. After this, users can simply say, ‘Alexa, ask PayByPhone to start parking’ to begin a new parking session at the user’s desired spot for their desired duration.”
Queensland to roll out state-wide open loop ticketing for trains, buses and ferries
Train and bus ticketing via phones and plastic to be tested in regional Queensland — ABC News — “The new system allows train, bus and ferry rides to be paid for with the swipe of a credit or debit card, smartphone wallet or smartwatch… The project in Queensland comes with a A$371m (US$257m) price tag, but unlike systems interstate and overseas, it will take in regional cities including Cairns, Townsville, Mackay and the Gold Coast.”