Customers of all six state-owned Chinese banks can now apply for test versions of the banks’ digital yuan wallets as the country rolls out the next phase of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot programme in the city of Changsha... More
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GSMA reports ‘dramatic acceleration’ in mobile money transactions
The number of registered mobile money accounts globally grew by 13% in 2020 to reach a total of more than 1.2bn, according to research by the GSMA... More
Thai and Vietnamese central banks roll out cross-border QR payments
The Bank of Thailand and the State Bank of Vietnam have launched an interoperable cross-border payments system that will enable Thai visitors to Vietnam and Vietnamese visitors to Thailand to make QR code-based payments for goods and services using their mobile banking app... More
Afterpay launches virtual card for ‘buy now, pay later’ in-store purchases
Consumers in Australia can now make payments for in-store purchases using a digital card issued by buy now, pay later (BNPL) service Afterpay that lets them automatically pay for their purchases in four equal instalments... More
Sydney integrates digital Opal card with rideshare services
Commuters in Sydney, Australia, will soon be able to use a digital version of their Opal transit card to pay for taxi fares and rideshare services and earn credit towards the cost of public transportation services they then transfer to... More
Delhi Metro lets passengers top up their transit cards at fare gates
Passengers travelling on Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) services in India can now top up their contactless AutoPe DMRC transit cards at the network’s automatic fare collection gates... More
Disney pilots face recognition for entry to Magic Kingdom theme park
Visitors to the Magic Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida can now test a contactless biometric system that enables them to gain entry to the attraction by verifying their identity with their face... More
US city leverages QR codes for contactless Easter egg hunt
Children in Texarkana on the Texas-Arkansas border in the USA can now take part in a contactless Easter egg hunt by looking for special eggs with scannable QR codes that have been hidden in parks, family-friendly businesses and public locations across the city... More
Google launches Android Ready SE Alliance to drive adoption of digital credentials
Google has joined with secure element (SE) vendors to launch the Android Ready SE Alliance to accelerate the adoption of new use cases for Android devices including digital car keys and mobile IDs... More
Abu Dhabi theme parks roll out face recognition for access and payments
Visitors to Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island can now use their face to gain access to the resort island’s Ferrari World, Yas Waterworld and Warner Bros World theme parks and to make contactless payments at retail and dining outlets that support its face recognition technology... More
Global OEM Pay transactions to exceed US$1tn in 2022
The total value of contactless transactions made using payment services provided by smartphone and other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) will reach more than US$1tn in 2022, a rise of 377% on 2019, Kaleido Intelligence predicts... More
OCBC Bank adds facial recognition at ATMs in Singapore
Customers of OCBC Bank in Singapore can now make account balance enquiries at eight of the bank’s ATMs by verifying their identity using facial recognition technology... More
WSJ video shows China’s digital yuan in action in stores
The Wall Street Journal has posted a video report showing Chinese consumers in the city of Chengdu using the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) to make in-store NFC and QR code payments from a digital yuan wallet on their mobile phone... More
Alpha Bank upgrades NFC mobile wallet with latest tokenization innovations
PARTNER NEWS: Greece’s Alpha Bank has launched a new version of its myAlpha NFC payments wallet that makes use of Antelop Solutions’ NFC white label SDK to add support for the latest Visa VTS and Mastercard MDES tokenization innovations... More
Office shuttle service adopts ultrasonic technology for boarding pass authentication
Commuters travelling on buses provided by app-based office shuttle service provider Shuttl can now authenticate their mobile boarding passes using an ultrasonic ‘data-over-sound’ contactless verification system... More
Mercedes rolls out contactless in-vehicle fuel payments in Germany
Mercedes drivers in Germany can now make contactless in-car payments for fuel directly from their Mercedes me app or via their vehicle’s infotainment system using the luxury car maker’s new Fuel & Pay digital payments service... More
Forecast: OEM Pays to drive more than 180% growth in global tokenization revenue by 2025
Total global revenue from tokenization provisioning and management for mobile payments will exceed US$53bn in 2025, an increase of more than 180% from US$18bn in 2020, according to a forecast by Juniper Research... More
Metrolinx begins contactless fare payment pilot in Toronto
Passengers travelling on Metrolinx’s Union Pearson (UP) Express airport rail link are the first in the Canadian city of Toronto to trial an open payment system that enables them to pay their fares with a contactless credit card or mobile wallet, without needing to buy a Presto transit card or e-ticket... More
Disney World to let Apple users access attractions with a digital pass
Visitors to the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida will soon have the option to generate a contactless digital pass that enables them to use their iPhone, Apple Watch or other smart device to gain entry to the theme park and access other resort features and services... More
Google Pay to let users in India share their transaction data for personalised offers and rewards
Google Pay users in India will soon be able to choose whether they want to share their transaction history and other activity data with the company in order to receive more personalised offers and rewards... More