Customers visiting US pharmacy and wellness center Chambers’ Apothecary in Chambersburg can now tap their NFC devices against NFC tags affixed to shelves throughout the store to interact with products and access a “wide variety of information” including user reviews, customer surveys and videos directly on their mobile phone... More
Apple Pay users across the US will soon be able to make peer-to-peer (P2P) money transfers to friends and family using a new feature set to be integrated into Apple’s iMessage platform through the latest iOS 11 operating system... More
Apple Watch users will soon be able to tap their device on NFC-enabled gym equipment to sync workout details such as calories burned, speed and distance with the machine for more accurate tracking... More
A new Core NFC function which forms part of iOS 11 will add support for NFC tag reading to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, Apple has revealed... More
UnionPay mobile QuickPass QR code payment landed in Hong Kong and Singapore — UnionPay International — “After UnionPay mobile QuickPass QR code payment was launched on May 27 in mainland China, UnionPay International announced today to extend this service to Hong Kong and Singapore… The newly launched QR code payment is a significant supplement to NFC payment.”
Customers of Russian mobile network operator MTS can now make NFC-based mobile payments and access loyalty points and exclusive offers using an updated version of the carrier’s MTS Money Wallet, which made its debut in February 2017... More
PARTNER NEWS: Customers of French bank Crédit Agricole can now make host card emulation (HCE) based mobile payments using a new version of the bank’s mobile app ‘Ma Carte’ and Paylib, an online payment acceptance brand supported by France’s main banks... More
Makati launches digital payments card for gov’t transactions, purchases — Rappler — “The Makatizen Card, launched by the city government in partnership with Globe and iBayad, functions as an ATM card and a valid government ID… It comes with a near-field communication (NFC) feature that allows city offices equipped with iBayad machine readers to verify the identity of residents and city government employees.”
PARTNER NEWS: A 10-page guide that explores how Samsung Pay works and its key benefits is now available to download from the NFC World Knowledge Centre... More
UAE biometric database will allow residents not to carry ID — Gulf Business — “The UAE plans to utilise third generation biometric data with the goal of allowing residents not to carry their ID card within the next five years… By 2018, the authority is also aiming to allow 80% people to use government services via their mobile by operating the device’s Near Field Communication chip to read their Emirates ID.”
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
Tokenization is an essential enabler for a larger and more complex commerce world as the Internet of Things (IoT) propels payments to a range of new devices, says Proxama’s vice president of product marketing and product management for payments solutions... More
Double Olympic champion and professional boxer Nicola Adams and TV presenter Jake Humphrey have unveiled car manufacturer Hyundai’s Contactless Car at London’s King’s Cross station, allowing passersby to donate to the Stand Up To Cancer charity with a tap of their contactless card or NFC mobile phone. More
Some 560m NFC secure elements will be shipped worldwide in 2017, representing a 12% increase from 2016, smart security industry association Eurosmart reveals. A total of 495m NFC secure elements were shipped in 2015, which increased by 1% in 2016 to reach 500m units. More
Jailbreak developer hacks NFC on iPhone 6S to talk to NFC devices — 9to5Mac — “In a brief video, the well-known developer showcases a jailbroken iPhone 6S interacting with an NFC-enabled tag. The phone promptly responds to the presence of the tag with a notification identifying the tag.”
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
Apple Pay has begun rolling out across Italy with support for Mastercard and Visa cards issued by Carrefour Banca and UniCredit, with American Express, CartaBCC, ExpendiaSmart, Fineco Bank, Hype, Banca Mediolanum, N26 and Widiba listed as “coming this year”. The launch takes Apple Pay to a total of 16 markets globally. More
Obtaining Mastercard and Visa security compliance and keeping in line with the payment ecosystem’s best practices will help to “reinforce” host card emulation (HCE) security levels and minimise the success rates of hacking attempts, says HCE and tokenization provider Antelop Solutions. More
PARTNER NEWS: German car manufacturer Daimler’s smartphone-based digital vehicle key for its Mercedes-Benz E-Class range that lets drivers lock and unlock their cars as well as start the engine using an NFC device is being supported by digital security giant Gemalto’s Trusted Services Hub (TSH). More
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University’s Future Interfaces Group have developed a working concept that enables smartphones to interact with smart home appliances using electromagnetic emission sensing technology. More