NFC World

The contactless transaction limit in France will be increased from €30 to €50 from 11 May, the date set by the French government for the country’s strict coronavirus lockdown to begin to be lifted. The increase in the limit has been announced by the French Banking Federation (FBF) and is expected to be gradually phased […]

KNOWLEDGE CENTRE: Convenience, consumer choice, and the ability to use contactless payments for public transportation hold the key to driving the mass market adoption of wearable payments in urban environments, Timex, Mastercard and Tappy explain in a panel discussion which is now available to watch free of charge in the NFCW Knowledge Centre. The discussion

The government of Macau is stimulating the local economy by distributing contactless smartcards to residents that come pre-loaded with a credit of 3,000 patacas (US$377.43) that must be spent in local stores by the end of July. Residents can use the cards to spend up to 300 patacas (US$37.74) a day — and will then

Commuters in 275 Chinese cities can now add their T-Union public transportation card to their iPhone or Apple Watch and then use their smartphone or wearable to tap in and out of bus and subway services without the need to first validate the transaction using Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode. The move marks

Digital wallet transactions grew 17% in March 2020, outpacing the average monthly compound growth rate of 6.7% over the past six months, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) reports. Digital wallet transactions include those made by its own CBA Tap & Pay service as well as Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Fitbit Pay and Garmin

New Zealand is to progressively roll out a temporary increase in the country’s contactless transaction limit “over the coming days and weeks” — but customers of two banks will miss out “due to technology constraints” unless they order a new card or make use of mobile payments. The move will see the contactless transaction limit

The contactless transaction limit in Switzerland and Liechtenstein is to be temporarily increased from 40 francs (US$41.60) to 80 francs (US$83.21) “in order to protect customers”. The increase will be applied by Visa, Mastercard and American Express “as well as all card issuers and service partners in Switzerland,” Postfinance, the financial services division of Swiss

Customers of Starling Bank are now able to request an additional, specially restricted payment card that can be given to a friend, family member or volunteer shopper “to buy essential items on their behalf”. “The Connected card has been designed to help personal account customers who are self-isolating during the coronavirus emergency and are relying

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic “will restrict the growth of MaaS platforms in 2020”, a new forecast from Juniper Research predicts, but MaaS initiatives “will rebound quickly in 2021 as cities re-evaluate their transport strategies”. Revenues generated by Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) platforms will exceed $52bn by 2027, up from $405m in 2020, the researchers say.

Contactless transaction limits are being increased in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Mauritius, Mastercard has announced. In Kenya, the limit is being increased from KES 2,500 (US$23.51) to KES 3,500 (US$32.92) while Tanzania is raising it from TZS 55,000 (US$23.76) to TZS 80,000 (US$34.56). In Uganda, the limit is increasing from UGX 90,000 (US$23.84) to UGX