Cash is getting scarce. It wasn’t so long ago that most transactions done in stores involved hard currency, but over time, dollars and bills have been increasingly displaced by debit and credit cards. Convenience is a big part of the reason, especially in countries where NFC-enabled POS terminals allow consumers to pay just by tapping…
Everyone wants to keep their money secure, and everyone wants easy access to it. That in itself has long been a bit of a dilemma, and it has only intensified with the digital revolution that has converted physical money into ones and zeros around the world. So it’s no wonder that biometric technologies, with their…
NEC has landed a contract to update Oman’s public transportation network with an Automated Fare Collection System (AFCS) and other smart technology. The use of AFCS tech will allow Omani riders to make contactless fare payments through a new mobile app, and will make transit more efficient for the country’s 20,000 daily commuters. Meanwhile, NEC’s…
The Apple Pay network continues to expand. The tech giant has announced that its biometrically secured mobile wallet platform is now available in Iceland, launching with support from the Icelandic banks Arion Banki and Landsbankinn. More banks are expected to add support for the platform in the not-too-distant future. To use Apple Pay, Arion Banki…
“A titanium physical card will also be available for shopping in stores, but the card won’t feature a card number, CVV, signature, or even an expiry date – all of that information will need to be accessed from the iPhone.” The rumors were true: Among its other announcements this week, Apple has unveiled a new…
Romania is getting its first biometric payment system thanks to a new partnership between Wirecard and Oney Bank. The two organizations will collaborate on Well.com, a mobile app that will allow customers to use their fingerprints or a QR code to authorize payments in Auchan Retail stores throughout the country. “Payment methods are continuously improving…
“The French launch of Google Pay also comes after a major extension of its support in the US, with Google announcing in late summer that 111 additional banks and credit unions were supporting the platform.” Google’s mobile payments platform has finally arrived in France, long after its major rivals. Six banks and credit card companies – Boon,…
When it comes to matters of money, security has long been the paramount concern. When bank customers call to access information or perform certain transactions, bank representatives have to ask for passcodes and biographical data; in a bank branch, customers have to enter PINs even when conducting business in person. When making payments, a signature…
Samsung Pay has now reached South Africa, the company has announced. Samsung’s mobile payments platform arrives in the country with the support of domestic banks Absa and Standard Bank, as well as Visa and Mastercard. Other partners for the launch include Virgin Money, British Airways, and the Avios airfare rewards program. In a post on…
A big new partnership is poised to lock truck drivers in Latin America into a mobile payments network secured with biometric authentication. Ipsidy, the provider of a recently launched mobile facial recognition app, has teamed up with Skypatrol, the provider of a GPS-based truck fleet management solution that supports over a million vehicles across Latin…
Biometrics and other innovative methods of authentication will be a key topic at the July Member Meeting of the U.S. Payments Forum, a non-profit cross-industry alliance that encompasses the whole payments ecosystem. Organizers have announced the agenda for this year’s event, and it’s going to kick off with a plenary panel entitled, “Next Generation Consumer…
“Weiss alleges that in 2010 he approached both companies regarding 13 patents he held, at least some of which pertained to smartphone-based biometric authentication and the use of one-time tokens in financial transactions.” A Massachusetts-based company called Universal Secure Registry is suing both Apple and Visa for alleged patent infringement related to Apple Pay, Apple’s…
Apple Pay has gone live in Japan, albeit with some hiccups. While the platform’s pioneering use of Touch ID fingerprint scanning to confirm transactions has helped to popularize the ease of use of mPayments for increasing numbers of customers around the world, compatibility issues with IT infrastructure from partner JR East has caused some difficulty…
Influential mobile companies in China are preparing for the rise of mobile iris scanning. Spreadtrum, a fabless semiconductor maker, has announced a new partnership with the Internet Finance Authentication Alliance (IFAA) to promote an iris-based payment authentication framework in the country. The IFAA carries some major weight. It’s a consortium launched by high-profile firms including…
“Between the two, Samsung Pay has a bit of an edge.” The two most prominent mobile payment platforms are now available in Russia. Samsung Pay launched in the country at the start of the month, and Apple Pay made its debut early this week. Between the two, Samsung Pay has a bit of an edge. Like Apple…
“Consumers need only to look at their phone to confirm transactions, which could make mPayments an even easier way to pay.” With a new software update, iris-based transaction verification has arrived to the Samsung Pay mobile payment platform. It comes by way of Samsung’s Galaxy Note7 smartphone. While it isn’t the first mobile device to…
Market research firm Technavio has named its top vendors in the area of mobile payment services. They are very big names: Amazon Payments, HP, IBM, MasterCard, Orcale, and PayPal. The analysis comes from Technavio’s report, Global IT Spending by Mobile Payment Service Providers Market 2015-2019, released last autumn. In a new statement announcing Technavio’s top vendors,…
MasterCard is getting ready to roll out ‘selfie’-based authentication, the company has announced. A new security system for the company’s mobile app will prompt users to use their mobile devices’ cameras to take short videos of themselves to confirm some payments; the system uses facial recognition to confirm their identities. Moreover, users are asked to blink…
A new digital payments platform is aiming to use voice biometrics as a secure means of customer authentication. Called Worldcore, the company aims to be the first European Union-regulated payment platform. It’s currently seeking PCI DSS Level 1 certification, with an eye to launching its e-commerce solution by this summer. And a major component of…