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The Scottish Government is to pilot a national digital identity system that enables citizens to store their identity information in their own ‘Attribute Store’ and then “share these attributes with other public sector service providers as and when needed”. The pilot is the next step in the Digital Identity Scotland (DIS) Programme and follows the […]

Customers of Pret A Manger sandwich shops across London and Manchester can now make cashless charitable donations in store using their contactless payment card or mobile device. The UK chain has begun trialling contactless donation devices to supplement its in-store cash fundraising for the Pret Foundation, which supports charities working to alleviate poverty, hunger and

Customers at four KFC outlets in Japan can now order and pay for their meals online, set a time for collection and then pick up their order from a contactless locker installed on the store’s counter. “At the store, products are prepared according to the time of arrival and stored in the pickup locker,” says

Employees of French retail chain Monoprix are testing an automated self-service store that uses AI-based product recognition technology to enable them to select and pay for their products without going through a checkout. Shoppers gain access to the store, which is open 24 hours a day and stocks some 300 snacking and hygiene products, by

Passengers on Metro de Sevilla services in the Spanish city of Seville can now pay their fares using their contactless debit or credit cards or their mobile device without needing to buy or recharge a ticket from a ticket vending machine. Passengers validate their journey with their physical or virtual card on entering and exiting

The Russian government is expected to adopt a law that will enable Russian consumers to use face and voice recognition to authenticate in-store payments in shops, cafes and other retail outlets by the end of 2020, Izvestia reports. “Amendments to the law, which increase the number of spheres of application of biometrics and clarify the

Apple is introducing a new line of accessories under the MagSafe brand name that use NFC to communicate the identity of an accessory attached to an iPhone. “MagSafe is an advanced new system,” Deniz Teoman, vice president of hardware systems engineering at Apple, explained during the phonemaker’s iPhone 12 launch event on 13 October. “It

Nearly two million Shenzhen residents, representing 15% of the city’s population, signed up for a chance to win 200 digital yuan (US$29.65) in the ‘red envelope’ lottery held as part of China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot. Some 50,000 participants were chosen at random to receive the digital yuan, which they can now spend

The Bank of Japan is to begin the first phase of proof-of-concept testing of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in early 2021, according to a statement published by the bank. In phase one, “the bank will develop a test environment for the CBDC system and conduct experiments on the basic functions that are core

Owners of Galaxy smartphones equipped with ultra wideband (UWB) chips could soon be able to unlock home, office and vehicle doors from a distance with their Samsung device, the manufacturer has revealed. “With Samsung’s forthcoming Digital Key solution, you’ll be able to use your Galaxy smartphone to unlock your front door as you approach it