Alipay to hold online 24-hour Christmas shopping festival as part of expansion push — South China Morning Post — “The event will take place in Hong Kong, India, Thailand and the Philippines with Alipay partners in each location: Hutchison in Hong Kong, Paytm in India, Truemoney in Thailand and GCash in the Philippines… As part of the December event, the AlipayHK joint venture has partnered with more than 8,000 bricks-and-mortar stores to offer exclusive gifts, discounts and rewards.”
Discounts
Ant Financial plans Alipay feature to connect merchants and customers
Ant Financial plans Alipay feature to connect merchants and customers — China Daily — “The ‘Life Account’, embedded in the Alipay app, allows its 520 million users to search nearby merchants, receive discount coupons, make appointments and conduct payments… It also helps business and social entities tap into their key clients by identifying their location and consumption preferences.”
San Francisco retailers offer special discounts and prizes through Apple Pay
US consumers will be given exclusive offers and discounts on purchases when they choose to make a payment using Apple Pay in stores across the Hayes Valley Shopping District and San Francisco Marina as part of Apple’s Lose your Wallet promotion... More
ExxonMobil adds credit card issuance to mobile payments app
Motorists using oil and gas company ExxonMobil’s mobile payments app can now apply for the ExxonMobil Smart Card credit card directly through the app... More
McDonald’s Taiwan launches smart cards
McDonald’s Taiwan launches smart cards — Taiwan News — “McDonald’s Taiwan is launching new stored-value cards which can accumulate points to exchange for menu items… Each purchase of NT$10 (US$.33) will result in the the accumulation of one point and with a certain number of points, the holder can obtain a menu item for free and discounts of up to 15%.”
KPN and Vodafone launch SIM-based mobile payments for public transport
Commuters across the Netherlands can now make payments for travel across “all public transport operators” in the country by adding their OV transport card to their compatible NFC smartphone and tapping the phone against a reader before and after their journeys... More
Android Pay gets improved loyalty features and eases redemption at the point of sale
Google has unveiled a range of new features for Android Pay designed to make it easier for users to save their loyalty cards to the mobile payment service and use Android Pay’s Smart Tap technology to redeem points and offers at the point of sale through a single tap of their NFC device. More
Carrefour and BNP Paribas unveil “universal” mobile payments and loyalty service
Supermarket giant Carrefour and French bank BNP Paribas have unveiled a new QR code-based mobile payment platform that will let customers make in-store, online and peer-to-peer (P2P) mobile payments as well as store loyalty cards, coupons and special offers on their mobile device. More
WeChat Pay and offline mobile payments see “incredibly high” uptake in China
Nine in ten Chinese mobile internet users (92%) choose mobile payment apps such as WeChat Pay as their primary offline payment method today, research released by Tencent Online Media Group’s newly launched research project China Tech Insights reveals, while “smartphone built-in payment tools” such as Apple Pay are currently used by approximately 12%. More
Consumers get chance to win prizes at the point of sale
Consumers can now be offered the chance to win prizes related to the purchases they make both in-store and online by playing games such as scratch cards and slot machines that are integrated into a merchant’s payment confirmation pages online and at the payment terminal in a store. More
Mahindra Comviva adds offers and promotions to mobile money platform
PARTNER NEWS: Mahindra Comviva is making it possible for mobile money operators to increase user engagement with the addition of a new service that enables relevant offers and promotions to be delivered automatically to users’ mobile devices... More
Russian mobile network MTS launches first phase of Money Wallet payments, transfer and loyalty service
Russian mobile network operator MTS has launched MTS Money Wallet, an online payments and money transfer service that incorporates loyalty points, offers and discounts, and is to be expanded to transport and in-store payments via NFC, SMS and USSD technologies later this year... More
Apple Pay in Australia ‘will encourage credit card competition’
Apple Pay could encourage competition between banks on credit cards in Australia, prompting more promotions and discounts, according to Apple’s latest submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)... More
Indian mobile wallet adds healthcare services
Indian consumers can now submit prescriptions, buy medicines, find doctors and book appointments through online pharmacy Easymedico using First Global Data subsidiary Msewa’s VPayQwik mobile wallet... More
Apple Pay offers Chinese New Year discounts
Apple Pay users in Singapore are being offered a string of discounts when using the mobile payment service to celebrate the Chinese New Year... More
Deutsche Telekom shuts down NFC SIM-based mobile payments service in Germany
Deutsche Telekom has discontinued its NFC-based MyWallet mobile payment service in Germany, citing a lack of customer use and doubts over whether a SIM-based solution is going to be adopted as a standard in light of “internationally competing companies” investing heavily in competing approaches... More
Apple Pay users to get rewards at 300,000 self-serve machines
US consumers making purchases at 300,000 self-serve machines across the country will soon receive exclusive offers, promotions and discounts toward future purchases when using Apple Pay to complete a payment... More
KFC uses facial recognition to offer menu recommendations in China
Fast food chain KFC and Chinese internet giant Baidu have opened a smart restaurant in Beijing’s Financial Street that uses facial recognition to make menu suggestions to new customers based on their gender, age and mood, and recommendations to returning customers based on items they have ordered in the past... More
Spanish bank offers 5% Apple Pay discount
Banco Santander in Spain is offering customers a 5% discount on items bought using Apple Pay until 15 January 2017... More
Liquid Pay targets 25,000 retailers in Singapore with QR code mobile payments
Some 25,000 retail locations in Singapore are expected to accept a new mobile payment service within the next 12 months... More