What's New in Payments

Edenred pilots biometric cards for state benefit payments

Mastercard and Edenred Bank announce first biometric card trial in Mexico — Mastercard — “Mastercard and Edenred today announced the first regional test of biometric card technology in Mexico. The effort, focused on state benefits programmes, features an embedded fingerprint sensor that provides an additional layer of security to conveniently verify the cardholder’s identity for in-store purchases.”


NFC World

Atlanta charity pilots NFC wristbands that let the homeless access welfare services

This tech nonprofit Is trying to help homeless people get IDs — Motherboard — “Mini City distributed 500 NFC-enabled wristbands — similar to FitBits or Nike FuelBands — to expand its services to Atlanta’s homeless. Each wearable holds an identifier number given to homeless citizens when they begin the process of obtaining a government ID. Users unlock Mini City’s app by tapping the wristband on a tablet at Salvation Army and other nonprofits like ReStart Atlanta — allowing them to book shelter beds, find nearby employment and medical resources, and check the status of their ID applications.”


What's New in Payments

Korea’s capital city plans its own payments cryptocurrency

Mayor Park Won-soon unveils Seoul cryptocurrency ‘S-Coin’ — Coindesk Korea (translation) — “Park Won-soon, mayor of Seoul, said he will create a coin currency called S-coin that can be used in Seoul… He thinks that ‘blockchains can be applied to all administrations in Seoul such as the public transport system operated by Seoul City and the provision of youth allowance.'”


Chinese government teams up with WeChat to offer digital social security cards

China’s social security system turns to WeChat for electronic ID — South China Morning Post — “Government trials in 26 cities will have Tencent’s WeChat replace traditional state-issued social security cards with digital version tied to users’ accounts… The WeChat-based electronic social security cards will enable users to provide their identification, status, payment records and other relevant information to official online inquiries about benefits and insurance coverage.”