East publishes European fraud update — European Association for Secure Transactions — “Two countries reported mobile wallet fraud in relation to Apple Pay. One reported that mobile wallets are fast becoming the new money mules — fraudsters are enrolling cards that are not yet associated with a specific wallet. Another country reported that fraudsters are obtaining security codes through phishing, with which they can then install a mobile banking app on their own smartphone, using the victim’s data.”
Mobile wallet
LG to launch ThinQ mobile wallet in the US?
LG applies for ‘ThinQ Wallet’ crypto wallet trademark in the US — Coin Telegraph — “According to the filing documents, the trademark is for services concerning transaction and settlement services, mobile banking, ‘issuance of cyber money’, and ‘payment application software for mobile phones’ among others. ThinQ is a brand first used for a smart refrigerator introduced by the company in 2011 at a consumer electronics show. Since then, multiple smartphones have been launched under the ThinQ brand.”
NTT Docomo celebrates 15th anniversary of world’s first mobile payment service
NTT Docomo celebrates Osaifu Keitai 15th anniversary — Ata Distance — “It all started today, July 1, 2004, when NTT Docomo launched the iMode FeliCa mobile wallet, called Osaifu Keitai in Japanese… To celebrate the anniversary Docomo has lined up a bunch of point campaigns for all the Osaifu Keitai payment networks: Mobile Suica, iD, QuicPay, Waon, Nanaco, Edy.”
Fiat Chrysler to let drivers order and pay for fuel, food and parking from their vehicles
Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram vehicle owners will be able to use a new Fiat Chrysler mobile wallet to order and pay for a range of services from their vehicles “in the second half of 2019”... More
Phoenix Suns to provide basketball fans with mobile payments and NFC ticketing at Talking Stick Resort Arena
Arizona-based National Basketball Association (NBA) team the Phoenix Suns are to offer fans access to mobile payments and NFC ticketing from within their mobile app, via a partnership with Ticketmaster, that will see the team move to mobile-only ticketing at its Talking Stick Resort Arena from the start of the 2019/20 season in October... More
China’s Expresspay Card moves into wearable payments
PARTNER NEWS: Expresspay Card, a joint venture between China UnionPay and Bank of China that offers China’s only open loop prepaid card, has partnered with Tappy Technologies and watch brand Saga Watch to offer cardholders a wearable payments option that will be accepted at any merchant equipped to accept China UnionPay contactless payments... More
ETA issues US mobile payments market status report
The state of mobile payments in 2019 — Electronic Transactions Association — “In 2018, 55 million people in the US used their smartphone to make a payment at a physical point of sale, whether by loading money into a closed-loop mobile app (like the Starbucks app) or by loading a credit or debit card into an open-loop mobile wallet (like Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay) and using it to pay at the point of sale. These 55 million users account for about 20% of the U.S. population aged 15 and over, and just over 25% of US smartphone users.”
European mobile wallets adopt Alipay QR code format to boost payment interoperability
Six European mobile wallet providers — Bluecode (Austria), ePassi (Finland), Momo Pocket (Spain), Pagaqui (Portugal), Pivo (Finland) and Vipps (Norway) — have adopted a QR code format from Chinese payment provider Alipay to ensure digital payment interoperability and improve the international reach of customers’ wallets as well as boosting sales, participants have told NFCW... More
Uber eyes move into banking and payments business
Uber is making a fintech push with a New York hiring spree — CNBC — “There are many possible payment and lending innovations Uber could come up with: It has 93 million active users globally, most of whom use linked credit cards or fund a wallet called Uber Cash to pay for rides and food delivery… Creating a bank account has been discussed at a high level at Uber but may be years away, or the company could decide against it.”
Iceland uses mobile wallet-based discount vouchers to boost footfall, sales and basket value
UK frozen food specialist Iceland has become the first national retailer to trial mobile wallet technology with in-store redeemable mobile discount vouchers installed on more than 20,000 devices... More
Singapore’s OCBC Bank rolls out instant banking product approval via mobile
Customers of Singapore’s OCBC Bank can now make purchases via their mobile devices minutes rather than days after applying for a digital bank card... More
Analyst: Rise of OEM Pay smartphone wallets to cost banks US$15bn — in Australia alone
$22b of bank revenue at risk from smartphone wallets: Morgan Stanley — The Australian Financial Review — “Smartphone digital wallets offered by Google, Apple and other technology giants will put A$22bn of revenue across the major Australian banks at risk, according to Morgan Stanley… Its analysts came to that figure after looking into how a banks’ payments capability influences decisions relating to other products. This includes transaction accounts that give major banks an opportunity to cross-sell customers more profitable products such as mortgages.”
Analysts: Contactless card rollout could push US mobile payment users back to plastic
Familiarity with mobile payments could help to drive adoption of contactless cards in the US but could in turn move those that have already adopted mobile payments back to physical methods of payment, according to a new issue of Auriemma Research’s Mobile Pay Tracker... More
Boston Fed reports on contactless card and NFC payments adoption issues
The rollout of contactless cards in the US should have an overall positive influence on NFC mobile payments adoption in the US, according to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston — but both consumers and merchants have ongoing adoption issues that remain to be resolved... More
Jaguar Land Rover tests Smart Wallet for payments and ‘earn as you drive’ data sharing rewards
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has begun testing a digital wallet that allows drivers to earn cryptocurrency credits in return for sharing information about traffic conditions such as jams and potholes — and then exchange them for a complimentary cup of coffee, parking charges or electric vehicle charging... More
One in eight contactless journeys in London now made with mobile phones
How the London Underground brings in 53,000 new contactless users a day — PaymentsSource — “More than 21.6m journeys per week are made on London public transit using contactless payments. More than 53,000 new contactless cards or new mobile contactless payments enter the TfL each day, and one in eight contactless journeys come via Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, or other mobile wallet apps.”
Samsung Pay enters beta testing in Indonesia
Samsung Pay swipes into Indonesia — KrAsia — “Samsung Pay is partnering with Ant Financial-backed mobile wallet platform DANA to conduct closed beta testing on some devices… In the near future, Samsung Pay will collaborate with more digital payment platforms to expand its services in Southeast Asia’s most populous country… Samsung Pay is available in 24 markets. In Southeast Asia, the app has already landed in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.”
Commonwealth Bank reports ‘dramatic increase’ in mobile payments due to Apple Pay
Digital wallet payments surge on Apple Pay: CBA — The Sydney Morning Herald — “‘Since we’ve introduced Apple Pay, we’ve seen the number of wallet transactions that are linked to a card increase 2.7 times. So it’s really increased quite dramatically since we’ve introduced Apple Pay for our consumer customers,’ said Sam Itzcovitz, CBA’s general manager of commerce solutions, business customer solutions.”
Google Pay to launch in Israel ‘by the end of this year’
Google Pay preparing to launch its digital wallet service in Israel — Haaretz — “Google plans to launch by the end of this year its Google Pay digital wallet platform and online payment system in Israel… The giant US company has been undertaking a round of meetings with regulators, bank executives, credit card companies and financial technology startups. The campaign, which involves a team from Google Israel, includes playing a role in Israel’s rapidly growing e-commerce sector as well as in brick-and-mortar retail.”
MTS to roll out open loop ticketing on buses and trains in San Diego
MTS partners with Init for account-based fare system in San Diego — Init SE — “Init will deliver about 900 fare validators for use on MTS buses and at rail station platforms. The validators will accept closed-loop payments such as an MTS-branded smartcard and be capable of accepting open payments such as bank-issued debit/credit cards and mobile wallets using Google Pay, Apple Pay or Samsung Pay.”