Samsung Pay now has approximately five million users in South Korea and the US who have processed more than $500m through the mobile payment service in the first six months since its launch. The service is due to be rolled out in China next month, Samsung has revealed, followed by a global expansion to Australia, Brazil, Singapore, Spain, the UK and Canada later in the year. More
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Bell ID to support Android Pay integration
PARTNER NEWS: Bell ID has added support for Android Pay to its Token Service Provider (TSP) solution, allowing its customers at issuing banks, payment schemes and processors to keep tokenization and detokenization in-house when they offer secure NFC payments on Android phones using Google’s payment system. More
Microsoft unveils $200 Lumia 650 handset with NFC
A new Windows 10 smartphone pitched at business users offers NFC connectivity and Microsoft app integration for less than US$200. The Lumia 650 will be available in select European markets beginning February 15, Microsoft says. The device is also expected to include support for host card emulation (HCE). More
Samsung Pay to launch in Russia?
Samsung Pay may soon be on its way to Russia, SamMobile reports... More
Visa Europe adds support for cloud-based credentials to tokenization service
Visa Europe has expanded its tokenization service to include support for services where payment credentials are stored in the cloud — such as banks’ own mobile payment apps, wearables and other connected devices — as well as for internet browser-based wallets, retailer-specific checkout offerings like Visa Checkout and card on file payment options... More
LG delays launch of LG Pay
LG is to postpone the launch of its LG Pay mobile payments service to the second quarter of this year, the company has told Korea Times... More
US banks get on board for mobile at the ATM
Millions of dollars in withdrawals and “hundreds of thousands” of transactions have now been made via Cardless Cash, the ATM functionality launched by banking and payment technologies provider FIS in January 2015 to let customers withdraw cash using their smartphone... More
G&D gets Amex accreditation for HCE payments solution
PARTNER NEWS: Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) has received Amex Enabled accreditation for Convego CloudPay, a host card emulation (HCE) based solution that lets a bank’s customers use their mobile banking app to load payment card credentials onto their smartphone and make contactless payments... More
Apple Pay awareness, adoption and usage drops in the US
One fifth of iPhone 6 owners in the US (20%) have used Apple Pay at least once, research from First Annapolis Consulting reveals, down from 22% in spring last year. 15% say they use it regularly — more than once per month — down from 19% in the 2015 survey. More
PayPal partners with Vodafone for NFC payments in Europe
Vodafone Wallet users in Europe will soon be able to make NFC mobile payments at stores, restaurants and other retail locations using their PayPal accounts... More
Mobeam update brings loyalty to POS scanners
Mobeam has updated its mobile coupon and offer app Beep’nGo to let customers use retail loyalty cards, gift cards and barcode coupons on their smartphone at checkout scanners for the first time... More
Visa offers mobile card controls
Consumers will soon be able to stop transactions taking place if their card is lost or stolen, set spending controls and receive transaction alerts on their smartphone via a new service launched by Visa... More
ANZ launches HCE mobile payments in Australia
Customers of Australia’s ANZ bank can now make host card emulation (HCE) based mobile payments “with the broadest range of cards on offer” using a new ANZ Mobile Pay service. More
Cash by Optus adds contactless bands and stickers to reach beyond Android owners
Consumers using Cash by Optus — the prepaid NFC SIM-based payments service launched by Australian mobile network operator Optus in November 2014 — can now make payments using a contactless wristband or a sticker attached to their mobile phone. More
Super Bowl fans explore Bay Area with BLE beacons
Attendees at Super Bowl 50 over the weekend were notified of related events, points of interest and prizes on their smartphones via a mobile app and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons installed in locations across the San Francisco Bay Area... More
Kazakhstan gets HCE payments
Customers of Kazkommertsbank (KKB) in Kazakhstan can now make host card emulation (HCE) based NFC mobile payments using a new service launched in partnership with Visa... More
MoboMoney takes sound-based mobile payments to India
Indian consumers can now make payments at participating retail locations using their mobile device and sound based technology developed by startup ToneTag. The feature has been integrated into MoboMoney, an NFC payments platform launched by information technology provider Tech Mahindra in December 2015, to extend the service to a greater number of mobile devices and merchants across the country. More
Global mobile payment market to hit $620bn in 2016
Consumers across the globe will use their mobile phones to spend a total of US$620bn on all forms of mobile transaction this year, representing a 37.8% year-on-year growth from $450bn in 2015, research from TrendForce reveals. By 2017, total mobile payment revenue will reach $780bn, climbing to $930bn in 2018 and $1.08tn in 2019. More
Rail passengers pilot mobile ticketing at 230 UK stations
Technology that will enable rail passengers in the UK to travel across the country using a barcoded mobile ticket sent directly to their smartphone is undergoing pilot testing at 230 railway stations in the north of England, Scotland and the Midlands. More
Bank of America and Wells Fargo to add NFC to ATMs
Bank of America and Wells Fargo are working on integrating NFC into their ATMs to let customers complete transactions using their smartphones and services such as Apple Pay, according to TechCrunch... More