PARTNER NEWS: Antelop Solutions has launched an integrated onboarding, authentication and mobile payments platform for Android and iOS devices that lets both traditional and challenger banks combine “best-in-class” end-to-end security with a user friendly, PSD2-compliant, mobile-first consumer experience... More
Ithmaar Bank launches biometric ATM network — Trade Arabia — “Ithmaar Bank customers are no longer required to use their cards at the bank’s ATMs. Instead, they can simply use their fingerprint along with their PIN to process financial transactions… To use the service for the first time, customers will need to register their fingerprint data at their nearest branch. The one-time registration only takes a few minutes and allows customer immediate access to the new service.”
Hungarian bank Erste has upgraded its Erste MobilePay application for Android phones to include NFC functionality, enabling customers to use their phones for contactless payment... More
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.”
Duty Zero by CDF introduces facial recognition payment at HKIA — DFNI Frontier — “The Duty Zero by CDF liquor and tobacco stores are the first in Hong Kong to feature the software, which is designed to enhance the consumer shopping experience for Chinese consumers. The Dragonfly POS devices are placed next to the checkout, customers input their phone number and face towards the camera; the software then completes the transaction in just a few seconds.”
NatWest Bank has begun a three-month pilot of bank cards incorporating a fingerprint... More
Alipay to spend US$448m plugging new face scanner — Yicai Global — “Dragonfly 2’s next-generation 3D cameras are more precise and have a wider angle, and since the device can handle payments under various lighting conditions merchants will not need to make any changes to their store lights… The scanner is priced at CNY1,999 (US$298.50), nearly 30% less than the previous version.”
China opens first 3D facial recognition metro line in Shandong — ECNS — “Metro Line 1 in Jinan City, Shandong Province has become the first in China to adopt 3D facial recognition technology… The 3D facial recognition technology-empowered gate can allow entry of 30 to 40 passengers per minute… The error rate is said to be only one in one million, while the technology can also detect fraudulent use of photos, videos or masks.”
Aeon to use facial recognition at 80 China self-serve stores — Nikkei Asian Review — “Aeon, Japan’s largest retailer by sales, will soon debut a chain of self-serve smart stores in China that can anticipate what a customer will buy upon entering the establishment… Facial recognition technology installed in the stores will identify shoppers. Customers’ smartphones will then display recommended items and coupons based on purchasing habits and digital payment history.”
Apple will expand the iPhone’s NFC chip reading capabilities before the end of 2019 so that it can be used to read data stored in security chips like those used in passports, according to comments made by the UK government... More
Deutsche Kreditbank (DKB) is enabling cardholders to use biometrics and their banking app to verify their identity in real time when making online purchases with their credit card... More
Carrefour has begun testing a biometric payments system at its Skanska supermarket in the Romanian capital city of Bucharest, the supermarket giant has announced... More
You will soon be able to pay your subway fare with your face in China — South China Morning Post — “At the Futian station, instead of presenting a ticket or scanning a QR bar code on their smartphones, commuters can scan their faces on a tablet-sized screen mounted on the entrance gate and have the fare automatically deducted from their linked accounts.”
SenseTime promotes traffic safety with smart automobile solutions — SenseTIme — “Passengers may register on the shuttle bus service app and submit their photo, they will then no longer have to worry about forgetting their smartphone or shuttle bus card, simply scan and go aboard, saving the hassle of waiting in queue to pay when getting on a bus.”
Introducing Android Q Beta — Google — “In Android Q we’re extending support for passive authentication methods such as face, and adding implicit and explicit authentication flows. In the explicit flow, the user must explicitly confirm the transaction in the TEE during the authentication. The implicit flow is designed for a lighter-weight alternative for transactions with passive authentication. We’ve also improved the fallback for device credentials when needed.”
NatWest Bank is to run a trial of fingerprint-on-card authentication allowing a cardholder to make contactless payments above the current level of £30... More
Chinese technology and retail group Alibaba has opened a hotel which uses the facial recognition biometric to secure guests’ rooms and the lifts... More
Presentations from the Wearable Payment Summit at MWC Barcelona 2019 are now available to download from the NFC World Knowledge Centre... More
W3C approves WebAuthn as the web standard for password-free logins — VentureBeat — “The specification lets users log into online accounts using biometrics, mobile devices, and/or Fido security keys. WebAuthn is supported by Android and Windows 10. On the browser side, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge all added support last year. Apple has supported WebAuthn in preview versions of Safari since December.”
Mastercard and du partner to usher in a new era of payments experiences and security across the Middle East and Africa — Mastercard — “NuDetect uses machine learning to analyse ‘passive biometrics’ like how a person types, holds their phone, moves their mouse or where they use their phone, to anticipate and prevent fraudulent card-not-present transactions, which includes ecommerce payments. The process to verify the user occurs without introducing any friction or interruption in the transaction.”