Customers of Hong Kong-based virtual bank Mox can now apply for an “all-in-one” numberless payments card that they can choose to use as either a debit or a credit card whenever they make a transaction... More
Debit card
Crédit Agricole issues biometric payment cards in France
Customers of Crédit Agricole can now use their fingerprint to authenticate contactless payments made with a biometric deferred debit card issued by the French bank... More
MTA reports on Omny contactless fare payments adoption in New York
Passengers on New York subway and bus services have tapped their contactless bank card or mobile wallet to pay their fares using the Omny open loop fare payment system more than 50m times since the service launched in May 2019, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has announced... More
UK to more than double contactless spending limit to £100
The UK is to increase the limit for contactless transactions from £45 (US$63) to £100 (US$140), the UK Treasury has announced... More
National QR payments and rewards system to be launched in Australia
Australia’s Eftpos national debit card system is to launch a QR code-enabled mobile payments and rewards network that will enable “seamless payment experiences across ecommerce, mobile and point of sale”... More
Stockholm rolls out contactless ticketing payments
Passengers using public transport across the Swedish capital of Stockholm can now make tokenized contactless payments for single adult fares on metro, rail, bus, tram and boat services by tapping their debit or credit card or smartphone at a ticket reader... More
Covid-19 pandemic cuts demand for plastic cards
The total value of the global plastic cards market has fallen by US$3bn over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the number manufactured worldwide falling by 19.7% from 37.1bn in 2019 to 29.8bn in 2020, according to the International Card Manufacturers Association (ICMA)... More
BNP Paribas to offer biometric payment cards to premier card customers
BNP Paribas Visa Premier card customers will soon have the option of upgrading to a biometric payment card for an additional fee of €24 (US$29) a year, the French bank has revealed... More
Nine in ten UK in-store card payments are now contactless
Nine in ten card payments made in UK stores during 2020 (88.6%) were contactless and the average contactless user made 141 transactions worth a total of £1,640 (US$2,241) over the course of the year, according to Barclaycard... More
UK to increase contactless spending limit to £100?
The UK could increase the limit for contactless transactions from £45 (US$61) to £100 (US$136), according to reports in the British press... More
Amsterdam buses and trams to get mobile, contactless and QR payments
Passengers using public transportation in the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam will soon be able to pay their fares using a contactless debit or credit card, an NFC mobile phone or via a QR code... More
Challenger bank to test biometric payment cards in Sweden
Customers of Swedish challenger bank Rocker will soon be able to take part in a proof-of-concept pilot of a biometric debit card that enables them to authenticate contactless in-store payments with their fingerprint... More
TreeCard launches wooden contactless debit card
Consumers in the USA and “a number of EU markets” can now apply for a debit card made from wood that also comes in a digital form and can be used to make contactless and mobile payments as well as cash withdrawals from banks and ATMs... More
UOB lets customers use its mobile banking app to link debit and credit cards to third-party apps
Customers of Singapore’s United Overseas Bank (UOB) can now use its UOB Mighty mobile banking app to add their debit and credit card details directly to third-party apps, avoiding the need to separately enter their card details and providing an additional reason for customers to engage with their banking app... More
PSCU reports 70% increase in US mobile debit card transactions
The weekly volume of mobile wallet debit card transactions in the USA has increased by 70.3% compared with this time last year, while weekly mobile wallet credit card transactions have grown by 50.4% over the same period, according to the PSCU’s latest Tracking Transaction Trends report... More
Adelaide Metro pilots contactless bank card and digital wallet payments for tram ticketing
Passengers on Adelaide Metro’s tram network can now make contactless fare payments with their credit or debit card or their tap-and-pay digital wallet without needing a metroCARD transit card or using cash... More
Titan and SBI pick Tappy wearable payments technology for India’s first contactless payment watches
PARTNER NEWS: Watch brand Titan has partnered with State Bank of India (SBI) for the launch of a range of watches that makes use of Canada-based Tappy Tech’s wearable payments technology to let consumers make contactless transactions at POS terminals across India... More
Samsung Money to go live in the US this summer
A new Samsung Money by SoFi service due to launch in the US “later this summer” will provide “a mobile-first money management experience that brings a cash management account and a Mastercard-branded debit card along with exclusive benefits into Samsung Pay,” the company has announced... More
Interac reports surge in digital payments adoption
Since mid-March, first-time users of Interac’s e-Transfer service have increased by 43% and the average number of transactions has increased by 9% compared to the same time last year, the Canadian domestic debit card network provider has revealed... More
Samsung Pay unveils plan to launch its own debit card
Samsung has announced plans to introduce “a new Samsung Pay experience” that combines “an innovative debit card backed by a cash management account”... More