Samsung Electronics Co. unveiled details of Samsung Pay, its mobile payments service set to roll out in the U.S. this summer to compete with Apple Pay and Google Wallet, further expanding the potential audience—and merchants—that can participate in the tap-to-pay experience.
Samsung has announced a new mobile payment service called Samsung Pay, that it claims will break the obstacles to mobile wallet adoption by being compatible with older point-of-sale terminals through the use of Magnetic Secure Transmission, which allows terminals using traditional magnetic stripe technology to accept payments.
Nearly two-thirds of Italians will be able to make real-time peer to peer payments using a mobile phone by this summer, according to Massimo Arrighetti, chief executive of Italian payment processor SIA. That’s not the end of SIA’s plans however, as the company focuses on an internationalisation agenda that targets 400 million European current account holders.
Lloyds Bank plans to invest £1 billion in digital banking capability over the next three years, re-investing a third of the savings it hopes to make in its drive to become ‘simpler and more efficient’.
Google Wallet is getting fresh horses in the mobile wallet race, where Apple Pay has the early lead.
Mobile payments technology is driving multiple types of innovations, but one of the most transformative likely will be location-based technologies that improve the shopping experience, according to Square’s co-founder Jim McKelvey.
Visa is expanding Visa Checkout, its secure online payment service, to reach a total of 16 countries this year, the company said last week.
Google Inc. is plotting another makeover for its 4-year-old Google Wallet, to be revealed in May at its annual I/O developer’s conference, according to a Feb. 20 report in the Wall Street Journal.
Samsung this week announced its purchase of mobile payments startup LoopPay, taking over its technology that enables magnetic stripe cards to be processed as contactless transactions at traditional payment terminals.
Pay.gov, the U.S. government’s online payments portal for 90 federal agencies, is expanding to embrace digital wallets, including PayPal and Dwolla, the U.S. Treasury announced this week.
Apple Inc. has filed a patent application indicating plans to add loyalty features to Apple Pay, introducing the option to redeem coupons and tickets via NFC, according to a new report.
Mobile deposit capture (MDC) has gained tremendous ground with consumers looking for more convenient access to funds.
The U.S. government is the latest to get behind Apple Pay as part of its commitment to encourage more secure payments technologies, the White House announced during its Summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection at Stanford University on Feb. 13.
Mozido today announced it’s acquiring PayEase Corp., a Beijing-based payments gateway and processor with direct connections to 23 Chinese banks.
PayPal and Shell are partnering to enable motorists in the U.K. to pay for gasoline at the pump via a smartphone app.
Contactless payments surged in popularity in the U.K. within the past year, with contactless card spending volume tripling to £2.32 billion (US$3.53 billion) from £653.4 million in 2013, while total contactless transactions rose more than 200 percent to 319.2 million in 2014 from 100.4 million a year earlier, the UK Cards Association announced last week.
Fear of fraud is the main factor slowing the adoption of smartphone-based payments among UK consumers, though a third believes that credit and debit card payments will no longer be the preferred method of payment in 2020.
As many more tech companies begin offering bank-like services, mainstream banks are searching for ways they can fight back
Apple Pay is a huge catalyst, not only for Apple but also for Android and host card emulation (HCE), First Annapolis’ Lee Manfred said during a keynote at the Smart Card Alliance Payments Summit. He urged issuers and merchants to view Apple Pay as a tool to build their own customized mobile strategies.
A new report from Ingo Money offers evidence to support what many industry observers have long maintained: Offering cardholders robust reload capability is key to driving loads and retention.
Miami-based YellowPepper has closed a $19 million round of Series C funding to expand its mobile wallet in Latin America, where mobile money services are growing by 53 percent.
Lebanese commercial bank Al-Mawarid has begun a bank transformation project focused on mobile and online banking using the FusionBanking Essence Digital software from Misys.
The mobile revolution is taking the financial services industry by storm. In less than five years it is predicted that the number of mobile phone owners using their device for banking purposes will double to over 1.75 billion. Banks cannot ignore the implications of what this means to their future business models. A mobile-first approach will be essential in leading the way.
The blazing sales rate of Apple Inc.’s new iPhones during the final quarter of 2014 shattered the company’s own expectations, and Apple Pay’s rollout was “extremely positive,” helping drive historic revenues, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook told analysts this week.
A new bank-run mobile payment service is set to launch in Poland next month, following collaborative efforts between six Polish banks. The new service will allow customers to make payments in stores and online, withdraw cash and send P2P transfers, all using their mobile phone.
Apple Pay continues to make major inroads just three months into its existence, Samsung preps to challenge and Google gains 200,000 online merchants.
Consumers in both developed and developing countries have embraced their mobile devices to check balances, make payments and conduct other financial activities. As a result, mobile banking has become a must-have offering for financial institutions. However, many are still working out how to go beyond the basics to add value for customers, increase engagement and maximise the return on the mobile channel investment.
E-commerce giant Amazon ended the beta test of its mobile wallet app this week, but didn’t say whether it was shuttering the wallet for good.
Google Wallet is reportedly in talks to buy NFC-based mobile wallet rival Softcard, causing speculation about how the combination might stack up against Apple Pay and other emerging wallet concepts.
PayPal this week announced a partnership with Microsoft to provide a new POS approach for small businesses to accept cards payments using the computer titan’s Surface Pro 3 tablet and certain Windows-based phones.
Community banks, which continue to show interest in prepaid but may not have the resources to build their own programs, have a new quick way to enter the market, according to Cachet Financial Solutions.
Shortly after Softcard unveiled Tappy, a puppet starring in a campaign to educate consumers about Softcard and mobile payments, the NFC-based mobile payment initiative backed by AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile has laid off approximately 60 employees.
Nearly 200 ATMs in the Chicago area are going cardless under a new initiative from Wintrust Financial and FIS.
Nine banks in Poland are preparing to launch mobile payments services via host card emulation (HCE) technology early this year, according to Visa Europe.
Several major British banks reportedly are in negotiations with Apple to bring the tech giant’s Apple Pay service to the U.K. before the midway point of this year.
Drivers soon will be able to pay with Apple Pay when filling up at Chevron stations, now that the fuel chain has announced plans to integrate the contactless payment system into its pumps.
The mobile payments piece of Starbucks’ partnership with Square has ended.
Industry experts earlier this year predicted abundant M&A activity in the payments industry, and they are being proved correct right to the very end of 2014.
One of the trends of 2014 was its delivery of technology that we had been promised for years but had fallen short until now. Siri, Cortana and Google Now all make good on the sci-fi staple of the voice-activated computer. Virtual reality has been attempted many times, but it seems that the Oculus Rift may have finally cracked it. And biometric authentication, while often included in devices but rarely used, is now commonly used by owners of new iPhones to unlock their devices thanks to Touch ID.
Apple in recent weeks has become somewhat more accommodating to consumers who use PayPal or Google Wallet. For example, consumers in the U.S. and U.K. now may use PayPal when making purchases on Apple’s online store.
