What's New in Payments

Vehicle vending machine lets drivers book, pay and drive away a test car from their mobile phone

Ford, Alibaba roll out test-drive services via ‘auto vending machine’ — China Automotive News — “Users can book a test drive via the Alibaba’s Taobao mobile app or the Tmall platform. Entering a key word of ‘super test drive’, users can follow the instructions from the interface to select the vehicles they want and the time to have the test drive. To schedule a test drive, users should submit their basic information and upload their selfies on the platform. Besides, they need to pay some test drive fees and the money for vehicle purchasing intention. After all these done, consumers can pick up their test vehicle via a facial recognition at the ‘super test drive center’ in Guangzhou to enjoy a three-day ride.”


NFC World

Ford gets patent for smartphone key case

Ford patents a smartphone case that turns your phone into a key fob — Ford Authority — “Ford Motor Company was just this week granted a patent on a new type of smartphone case with all the necessary integrated electronics to allow the phone to function as a vehicle key fob… The device would communicate with the encased smartphone through the Bluetooth or NFC (Near Field Communication) protocols, the patent says, giving the user access to a virtual keyfob on the smartphone’s screen.”


What's New in Payments

Starbucks to add gift cards to iMessage as Mobile Order & Pay grows

Users can send each other Starbucks gift cards in Apple's messaging app

Starbucks customers across the US will soon be able to purchase gift cards using Apple Pay and send them to friends and family within Apple’s iMessage platform. The move comes as the coffee giant reveals it now has approximately nine million mobile paying customers with one in three using Mobile Order & Pay, which accounted for 8% of all transactions made across US stores last month. More






NFC World

NFC news in brief • 24 Jan 2011

Oyster card

News in brief from the NFC world and beyond: MasterCard wins Oyster deal • PayPal nears 100m accounts • Proxama buys Hypertag • Palm tablets to include NFC? • Contactless grows in the UK • NTT Docomo, KT and China Mobile tie up. More