PARTNER NEWS: NXP’s new mWallet 2GO platform offers OEMs a pre-certified and validated turnkey payments solution and is being used by luxury brand Montblanc to add Visa and Mastercard payments capabilities to its watches, via its new Twin smart strap... More
Platform
Ingenico and USA Technologies team up to bring contactless payments to unattended retail locations
Ingenico Group and USA Technologies announce a three year strategic alliance agreement — USA Technologies — PARTNER NEWS — “Through the Alliance Agreement, both companies will partner to pursue the unattended retail marketplace with a bundled solution that pairs Ingenico Group’s innovative hardware, software, security and services solutions portfolio with USAT’s comprehensive ePort Connect services platform specifically designed for the unattended retail market.”
UnionPay sets out its mobile payments rollout plans
UnionPay International launches mobile payment service platform to accelerate rolling out of its mobile payment worldwide — UnionPay — “UnionPay International will introduce Huawei Pay to the global markets this year, and Russia is expected to be the first country outside mainland China where Huawei Pay will be launched. In addition, UnionPay QR code payment will be available in Tajikistan, Japan, Cambodia and Suriname this year… UnionPay International is working with major institutions in Hong Kong, Kenya, and Nepal in jointly developing the international version of the UnionPay app.”
US carriers set out joint mobile authentication platform plans
AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon unveil next-generation mobile authentication platform details — AT&T — “This highly secure solution will deliver a cryptographically verified phone number and profile data for users of authorized applications with their consent. Authentication security is strengthened by processing unique attributes such as a network verified mobile number, IP address, SIM card attributes, phone number tenure, phone account type and more. In addition, advanced analytics and machine learning capabilities will be used to help assess risk and protect customers. Registered developers will be able to submit applications through a system using private and permissioned blockchain technology to help ensure application integrity.”
Meet NFC World’s partners at Mobile World Congress
NFC World partners Antelop Solutions, Dejamobile, Rambus and STMicroelectronics will be at Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona from 26 February to 1 March... More
Australia’s next generation payments platform goes live
Australia’s new payments platform goes live — ITNews — “The NPP [New Payments Platform] works like a ‘secure set of rails’ between banks so they can send payment messages in real time to each other via the Reserve Bank. The platform allows services to run on top of the NPP — like Bpay’s Osko, which is the first so-called overlay service to arrive on the platform. Osko lets consumers transfer money to someone via their mobile phone number or email address in real-time, 24/7. It also enables them to send a 280-character description with their payment.”
Ride-hailing app Grab acquires mobile payments startup iKaaz
Grab announces acquisition of Bangalore-based payments startup iKaaz — Grab — “The rich functionality of iKaaz’ mobile payments platform and its experienced leadership team will accelerate feature development and partner integration of GrabPay, Grab’s payments platform. Already Southeast Asia’s #1 ride-hailing platform, Grab is expanding across all markets in Southeast Asia in 2018 with the goal of becoming the region’s universal payments platform.”
China UnionPay launches mobile wallet app
UnionPay takes mobile payment services fight to Alibaba and Tencent with integrated app — South China Morning Post — “UnionPay said the app could be linked to more than one bank account by different banks with all of their mobile payment services accepted and conducted via the platform… The country’s dominant bank card clearing service provider also launched a nationwide promotional campaign with aggressive discounts to attract consumers who have been increasingly using Alipay and Tenpay services for shopping.”
World’s thinnest smartwatch to include support for multiple NFC services
Fidesmo and Haikara collaborate on the future of smartwatches — Fidesmo — “Haikara is the world’s thinnest smartwatch that lasts for up to a week on one charge. It allows you to change your watch face to match your outfit and mood, and it looks great on your wrist. By using Fidesmo’s platform Haikara will enable their customers to pay, access their office building or use public transport.”
Sberbank to build ID platform that supports face, voice and retina biometrics
Sberbank and VisionLabs to build biometric identification platform — Sberbank — “Sberbank announces the signing of a deal to acquire a block of shares in VisionLabs, a global leader of the facial recognition market… The investment in VisionLabs is a major first step by Sberbank to build a biometrics platform of Sberbank’s ecosystem, involving face, voice and retina identification, as well as other biometric factors… This will allow the creation of a unique biometric identifier that will let Sberbank clients access any service.”
DBS launches developer platform that gives access to 155 banking APIs
Reimagining banking, DBS launches world’s largest banking API developer platform — DBS Bank — “With 155 APIs at launch for Singapore across more than 20 categories such as funds transfers, rewards, PayLah! and real-time payments, the platform will offer the world’s largest number of, and most relevant, banking APIs… More than 50 companies including household names such as AIG, McDonald’s, MSIG, PropertyGuru, as well as start-ups like Activpass, FoodPanda, Homage, and soCash have already hopped onto the platform.”
Visa to offer real-time payments in Europe
Visa to transform payments in Europe with Visa Direct — a real-time payments platform with global reach — Visa — “With Visa Direct, funds can be transferred into the recipient’s Visa account quickly, conveniently, and securely — providing instant access to funds and the ability to make purchases at 44m retail locations worldwide.”
White paper sets out how fashion brands can add payments, loyalty, ticketing and more to wearable devices
Fashion brands looking to include payments capabilities in their wearable devices need solutions that are pre-certified, inexpensive, easy to implement and offer the wearer the ability to quickly and easily add their choice of payment, transit, loyalty and identity cards throughout the lifetime of their watch or fashion accessory, wearables platform provider Fidesmo explains in a new white paper which is now available to download free of charge from the NFC World Knowledge Centre... More
Antelop to add Visa token support to white label NFC mobile wallet platform
PARTNER NEWS: Antelop Solutions has signed up for the Visa Ready Tokenization program as an HCE Token Requestor Token Service Provider (TR-TSP) and plans to become Visa Ready certified, enabling it to connect its HCE NFC software-as-a-service mobile payments platform to Visa Token Service... More
Japanese banks to develop shared customer ID platform
Japan developing shared ID system for banks — Nikkei Asian Review — “In this set-up, an account holder at one bank can register for a shared ID. If the individual wishes to open an account at a second bank, all she needs to do is provide the common ID through a smartphone app, and confirm her identity through fingerprint or facial scan.”
Macquarie open banking APIs let customers share transaction data with third parties
Macquarie to give customers data control with new open banking platform — ZDNet — “Information the new platform can share includes personal banking data such as a customer’s transactions and home loan balances, as well as their business and wealth information. It can be plugged into third-party providers like budgeting apps and accounting software, not just competing financial services providers; however, the third-party provider must meet Macquarie’s open platform standards and security criteria before it will turn over the data.”
Google to enter mobile payments market in India
Google to launch payment app ‘Tez’ in India — The Ken — “Google is expected to partner ‘several large private banks in India’ for its payment product, Tez. Besides its own UPI-based service, Google is expected to integrate third-party payment wallets such as Paytm and MobiKwik among others on its platform.”
MediaTek to offer OEMs ‘complete mobile payment platform’ that uses STMicroelectronics NFC technology
PARTNER NEWS: Mobile chipset giant MediaTek has integrated STMicroelectronics’ NFC technology into its mobile platforms, creating “a complete solution for handset developers to design next-generation smartphones capable of supporting tightly integrated NFC mobile services”... More
US pop band adds NFC tags to merchandise range
Fans of US pop group Airspoken can now access music, videos and other digital content by tapping their NFC mobile devices against NFC tags embedded in the band’s merchandise, from t-shirts, stickers and hats to bracelets and more... More
East London gets local currency built on the blockchain
Residents across East London can now make mobile payments at small businesses with a local currency launched by Tel-Aviv-based digital wallet provider Colu which makes use of blockchain technology... More