Moscow Metro has officially launched the digital version of its Troika transit card, enabling Android users to pay their fares on public transport services across the Russian capital by tapping their smartphone at a turnstile or validator... More
Android Pay
Google Pay goes live in Israel
Google Pay has launched in Israel with support for cards issued by the country’s major banks and payments card issuers... More
Mobile contactless payments now account for one in three card transactions in Russia
Mobile contactless payments now account for just over a third of all card transactions (34%) and just under a third of total card transaction value (31%) in Russia compared with 25% of transactions and 23% of transaction value in 2019-2020, according to MTS Bank research... More
Singapore lets residents store digital Covid vaccination certificates on Android devices
Residents of Singapore can now add a digital version of their Covid-19 vaccination certificate to their Android device and access it from Google Pay or by adding a shortcut to their device’s home page... More
US entertainment venues roll out contactless digital cloakroom ticketing using NFC
Concert-goers attending events at entertainment venues across North America will soon be able to check in and check out coats, bags and other items at the cloakroom with a tap of their NFC-enabled Apple or Android device rather than using a paper ticket... More
Google lets US drivers use Assistant to pay for fuel with their voice
Drivers refuelling at more than 32,500 fuel stations across the US will soon be able to make hands-free payments at the pump by issuing a voice command to Google Assistant... More
Monzo lets customers link virtual debit cards to funds ring fenced for specific types of expenditure
Customers of UK neobank Monzo can now create virtual debit cards for specific kinds of expenditure that are linked directly to funds they have set aside for that purpose rather than to their main bank account... More
Dallas adds bank card and digital wallet payments to contactless transit ticketing system
Passengers using buses, trains and streetcars operated by Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of the US state of Texas can now make contactless fare payments with their debit or credit card or from a digital wallet on their NFC-enabled mobile device... More
Google Pay to go live in Israel this year?
Google Pay is preparing to launch in Israel by the end of 2021, following a deal reached by Israeli credit card company Isracard with Google to support payments made with its card via the mobile wallet, local media outlets report... More
Google Pay goes live in Austria
Google Pay has officially launched its app for owners of both Android smartphones and Wear OS smartwatches in Austria. Austrian customers of neobanks and fintechs including Curve, Monese, N26, Revolut and Viva Wallet have been able to use Google Pay via their mobile banking app since November 2020. More
South Korea passes law to open up app store payments to competing payment services
The South Korean parliament has passed a bill that will require companies such as Apple and Google to allow the use of payment services other than their own proprietary systems for the purchase of digital goods within their app stores... More
Google Pay adds support for contactless payments on Wear OS watches in 16 more countries
Owners of a smartwatch running Google’s Wear OS operating system will soon be able to use it to make contactless payments using Google Pay in 16 additional countries... More
UK to increase contactless transaction limit to £100 from October
The UK will begin rolling out a new £100 (US$137) spending limit for contactless payments from 15 October 2021, UK Finance has announced... More
Apple Pay used for more than 90% of US mobile wallet debit transactions in 2020
The number of debit transactions completed using a mobile wallet in the US rose by 51% year-on-year to approximately 2bn in 2020, with “a noteworthy” 92% of those transactions being made with Apple Pay and just 5% with Google Pay and 3% with Samsung Pay, according to research published in the 2021 Debit Issuer Study... More
Bergamo rolls out account-based contactless ticketing across public transport network
Passengers on buses, trams and funicular railway services in the northern Italian city of Bergamo can now make contactless payments for their fares using their credit or debit card or from a digital wallet on their NFC-enabled mobile device... More
Moscow Metro to roll out digital Troika transit card
Moscow Metro has launched the final phase of testing of a digital version of the Troika transit card that enables passengers with Android smartphones to pay their fares on metro, bus, tram and local train services by tapping their device at a turnstile or validator... More
Australia and England let residents store Covid-19 vaccination certificates in their digital wallet
Residents of Australia can now opt to store a digital vaccination certificate proving that they have been fully inoculated against Covid-19 in either Apple Wallet on an iOS device or in Google Pay on an Android device... More
Australian public hearing considers case for regulatory controls to ensure payment apps get access to smartphone NFC technology
An Australian parliamentary committee has held a public hearing at which it heard evidence from representatives of leading Australian banks, payment services providers and other financial bodies on regulatory issues including whether companies such as Apple should be mandated to allow third-party payment apps access to a smartphone’s NFC chip... More
Santa Barbara gets fare capped open loop contactless ticketing as California rollout expands
Passengers travelling on express bus services in the Santa Barbara region of the US state of California can now pay their fares by tapping an on-board payment reader with their contactless debit, credit, prepaid card or mobile wallet... More
Google lets US Android users make in-store NFC payments from their Google Pay balance
Google Pay users with an NFC-enabled Android smartphone in the US can now request a virtual debit card that allows them to make in-store contactless payments directly from their Google Pay balance... More