“We have seen over 40% growth in contactless transactions worldwide in the first quarter,” Mastercard president Michael Miebach has revealed, with “more than half of new tappers saying they will continue to use contactless once this pandemic is over.” “In our conversations with banks, we see a renewed commitment to accelerate the issuance of new […]

“In the exceptional circumstances of the Covid crisis, we are giving the industry an additional six months to implement strong customer authentication (SCA) for e-commerce. This will minimise potential disruption to consumers and merchants. The new timeline of 14 September 2021 replaces the 14 March 2021 date.” Read the rest of UK extends strong customer

“The partnership will cover over 24 million M-Pesa customers, more than 173,000 Lipa Na M-Pesa merchants from Safaricom and more than 61m merchant locations throughout Visa’s global network, and over 3.4bn Visa cards in more than 200 countries and territories, subject to regulatory approval.” Read the rest of Safaricom partners with Visa for M-Pesa digital

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) is to spend an additional US$212.1m on its new transit ticketing infrastructure, to enable support for a range of new options including the ability to integrate ferry and local rail services and to charge riders different fares depending on the time of day they travel. The increase in the

Central banks in the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait have all increased the contactless transaction limits in their country, in a bid to combat the spread of Covid-19. In the UAE, the limit has been increased from 300 dirhams (US$81.68) to 500 dirhams (US$136.13). In Kuwait, it has risen from 10 dinars (US$32.29) to 25 dinars

JCB has launched Tap on Mobile, a contactless payments acceptance solution that uses off-the-shelf Android NFC devices to enable its acquirers to offer “a cost-effective payment solution to their merchants”. “Aimed at driving greater contactless acceptance among JCB acquirers worldwide, JCB has developed the Tap on Mobile programme which will be used to govern all

“Apple Pay is now available for Westpac customers with an eligible Mastercard debit or credit card, or eftpos Handycard… Debit card holders can now choose the payment option linked to their card when they pay with Apple Pay, including ‘Mastercard Debit’, ‘eftpos CHQ’ and ‘eftpos SAV’.” Read the rest of Westpac goes live with Apple

LG CNS is piloting a new payments solution that combines face recognition, a blockchain-based digital currency and AI technology to let shoppers enter an unmanned store, shop and check out — without needing to come into close contact with either employees or POS equipment. The pilot is taking place at a convenience store located within

The increase in the UK contactless transaction limit from £30 (US$37.50) to £45 (US$56.25) has resulted in 43% of in-store transactions valued at between £30 and £45 now being made via contactless payments, Barclaycard reports. “This is expected to increase as public awareness of the new limit grows, and as more businesses implement the technology