Dutch retail chain Hema is to trial a software-only point-of-sale (sPOS) solution that enables staff to accept contactless payments on any Android smartphone or tablet without needing any additional hardware or accessories... More
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and more than 20 other transit agencies that support the Clipper fare payment system in the San Francisco Bay Area of the USA are trialling a contactless transit pass that will allow passengers to take unlimited free journeys on bus, rail and ferry services in the region... More
Rail operator NS in the Netherlands is to pilot a contactless open loop fare payment system that will enable passengers to pay for their train fares by tapping their physical debit or credit card or their digital debit card stored on a smartphone or smartwatch at the beginning and the end of their journey... More
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is to run a series of pilot schemes to test the use of mobile payments technology to enable citizens entitled to financial support under its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to receive benefits and make NFC or QR code payments for eligible purchases on their mobile device... More
Residents of Finland could be the first in the European Union to test the use of a digital passport stored on their mobile phone to verify their identity when they travel abroad, according to media reports... More
The UK government is to begin testing technologies and greater use of biometric innovations for automated border identity verification checks as part of its newly published plans to develop, test and implement a “contactless digital border” at airports, ports and other entry points to the country... More
PARTNER NEWS: Dejamobile has become the first software-only contactless POS solution provider to be certified by French bank card association Groupement des Cartes Bancaires (CB), opening the way for merchants to begin piloting the technology for contactless CB card payments acceptance... More
Dutch bank ING is to pilot a payments feature that uses ultra wideband (UWB) technology to enable consumers to make peer-to-peer (P2P) mobile payments to another user’s smartphone without needing to find, enter or exchange personal data such as their email address or phone number... More
Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) is trialling a contactless biometric immigration clearance system that enables travellers arriving in the country from Malaysia by car to scan their passport and verify their identity with a face and iris scan without needing to leave their vehicle... More
Passengers using two subway lines in South Korea will soon be able to test a ‘tagless’ fare payment system that enables them to pay for their tickets by walking through a ticketing gate without having to tap a contactless reader with their transit card or smartphone... More
Residents of Switzerland will be able to download and store a digital version of their national ID card in a digital identity wallet on their smartphone along with other digital credentials such as club membership cards and event tickets... More
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is piloting a new kind of automated, contactless store that uses biometric authentication to let those entitled to subsidised commodities such as rice, wheat and grains receive their allocation without needing to visit a traditional retail outlet... More
Rome’s public transport operator Atac is testing the Tap & Go contactless fare payment system already in use on the Italian capital’s subway network on one of the city’s main bus routes prior to implementing it across its entire bus fleet... More
Transport for NSW is to officially launch the digital version of its Opal transit card that enables passengers to pay fares by tapping a reader with their NFC smartphone or smartwatch and to begin trialling a Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) app that will let users plan, book and pay for multimodal journeys across both private and public transport services... More
Police officers in the city of Alpharetta in Georgia have become the first in the USA to be issued with contactless smart cards that let members of the public access an officer’s ID badge information and contact details by simply tapping the card with their NFC smartphone... More
Passengers travelling on the Ferny Grove suburban rail line in Brisbane in Queensland can now pay their fares with a tap of their contactless credit or debit card, mobile phone or smartwatch using the open loop transportation ticketing system that the Australian state is planning to roll out across 18 regional centres this year... More
Sweden’s central bank The Riksbank has completed the second phase of its e-krona central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot and demonstrated that the blockchain-based technical solution it is testing can be integrated into existing banking and payments infrastructure... More
The National Bank of Iraq is to pilot biometric payment cards that will allow users to authenticate contactless transactions with their fingerprints... More
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot project “in the near term” and the Qatar Central Bank (QCB) is also exploring the possible development of a CBDC in line with its wider payment digitisation plans... More
Devotees will soon be able to make contactless offerings and other charitable payments at some 536 Hindu temples across India using a QR code-based payment system being piloted by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department... More