Facebook has unveiled a new service called Place Tips that works with Bluetooth beacons, WiFi and GPS to show the social network’s iOS app users “useful and relevant” information about the places they visit... More
New York
Urevu unveils wearable BLE beacons for customer reviews
Shop owners and service providers could in future get real-time feedback on the service delivered by individual members of their staff, and thus improve the experience delivered to customers, thanks to a new mobile app from New York-based startup uRevu... More
New York metro heads to NFC
New York City’s Metro Transit Authority (MTA) is in discussions to replace its MetroCard payment system with a new US$450m system set to include support for NFC mobile payments and contactless cards... More
MasterCard partners with Masabi
MasterCard has announced a global partnership that will combine its payment technology with Masabi’s JustRide mobile ticketing platform... More
Softcard lays off 60 staff in bid to cut costs
US carrier-owned mobile payments venture Softcard has laid off 60 employees out of an employee base of “hundreds” as part of an effort to “reduce costs and strengthen its business”... More
Cooper Hewitt museum visitors to use NFC pens to interact with multi-touch display tables
Visitors to the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York are to be given the opportunity to use an NFC pen to interact with a range of NFC-enabled multi-touch display tables, enabling them to ‘draw’ on the tables and keep track of the objects in the collection that they interact with... More
TD Bank partners with Moven
Toronto-Dominion Bank is expected to announce a partnership with New York based banking app maker Moven to help its customers use their smartphones to keep track of every purchase they make, The Globe and Mail reports... More
Sephora adds Apple Pay
Cosmetics store chain Sephora has rolled out support for Apple Pay in all five of its Bay Area stores in the US and is also testing NFC payments acceptance in one Manhattan location in New York... More
HouseTab drives usage with charity donations
Mobile app HouseTab is to donate US$1 to the Food Bank For New York City each time someone registers to use the app until the beginning of January, and will make additional donations every time the app is used to pay for a tab or to send drinks or food... More
Brooklyn Nets launch mobile wallet
American Express has partnered with New York basketball team Brooklyn Nets to pilot Brooklyn eWallet, a digital payment solution integrated into the team’s mobile app that lets fans buy food and drink with their mobile phone at any event held at the Barclays Center arena... More
Starwood’s mobile keys go live
The Bluetooth-based mobile keyless entry solution unveiled by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide earlier this month is now live in 10 hotels in Beijing, Hong Kong, New York, Los Angeles and Doha and will be rolling out to Aloft, Element and W Hotels across the globe... More
Starwood Hotels picks Bluetooth for mobile room keys that work on smartphones and Apple Watch
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has unveiled a mobile keyless entry system that will allow guests to use smartphones to unlock rooms using Bluetooth at 150 hotels around the globe by early 2015. The service will also be available via an Apple Watch app when the new wearable device ships next year, the hotel chain has told NFC World+. More
Hailo reports on BLE payments in taxis
Pay with Hailo, a service that uses Apple’s iBeacon technology to let users of the Hailo taxi hailing app pay drivers with their smartphone, is experiencing “steady growth”, Naoise Irwin, the company’s VP of strategic initiatives, has told NFC World+ — and Hailo now plans to roll out the service across its growing international network... More
Dash expands to Chicago
Mobile payment provider Dash is expanding to Chicago, adding 20 restaurants and bars in the city to its existing base of 50 locations in New York... More
Macy’s unveils mobile payments and customer marketing plans
Macy’s Inc, owner of the Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s department store chains, has unveiled plans to implement a range of new technologies designed to provide an omnichannel shopping service to its customers... More
Starbucks to expand mobile payments
Coffee giant Starbucks is to use its digital payments expertise and online presence to introduce a range of new formats and services, the company says, beginning with the introduction of mobile ordering at its first Express outlet in New York in early 2015... More
Walgreens tests augmented reality offers in stores
US pharmacy chain Walgreens is piloting a shopper marketing platform that uses Google’s Project Tango 3D augmented reality technology to let shoppers locate a particular product, get directions to the correct aisle and earn rewards as they shop... More
New York bars adopt mobile payments service that lets customers send drinks to friends
Twenty bars and restaurants in New York are using a new service that combines mobile payments with social networking, enabling customers to pay their tab, meet up and communicate with friends and send ‘Goodies’ like drinks and food to their contacts... More
Verifone launches acoustic payments in Philadelphia
POS maker Verifone has expanded its Way2Ride mobile payments service to Philadelphia, allowing taxi users in the US city to pay for their journey using a sound-based proximity mobile communications technology... More
NICE rolls out Masabi mobile ticketing and payments in Nassau County
Veolia Transportation is rolling out a mobile ticketing and payment service on the NICE bus and paratransit system in New York’s Nassau County, in partnership with mobile ticketing and payment provider Masabi... More