Canadian company Nymi has developed an authenticating wristband which uses a person’s unique electrocardiogram (ECG) reading. According to the company, the wristband allows wearers to “seamlessly unlock devices, remember passwords and more”. Nymi first discussed using their wristband technology as a payment authenticator last year and, following a successful trial, it now claims that the…
The National Bank of Ukraine, the country’s Central Bank, has issued a press release stating that it has passed a resolution which restricts the use of cash within the country. The bank has passed a “Resolution On Setting a Cap on Cash Payment” (Resolution No. 210, dated June 6, 2013) whereby cash payments have been…
From today more than 250,000 shops across the UK will begin accepting Apple Pay payments, including Boots, the Post Office, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and London’s transportation network Transport for London (TfL). Users of Apple’s NFC enabled devices can now use them to make contactless payments in retail stores as well as in-app and online…
A report by news channel CNN-Money has announced that MasterCard will begin to trial the use of biometric payment authentication by approving online purchases with facial scanning. Customers will be able to scan their faces using their mobile phone’s camera – commonly referred to today as a “selfie”. The reason behind this innovation is simple:…
An article by American news channel CNBC reports of an increase in tipping within some service businesses since the introduction of mobile payments. Restaurants are reporting that they have seen an increase in the percent value which has been given as a tip when paying for their meal since they installed mobile payment systems within…
Mobile phone operator T-Mobile has begun accepting Bitcoin payments for pay-as-you-go phone top-ups in Poland. T-Mobile, one of Poland’s leading mobile phone operators, has begun a 3 month trial offering the virtual currency Bitcoin as an alternate payment option in partnership with Polish payments processor InPay. To help launch this new payment option, T-Mobile is…
From September 2015 the UK spending limit on contactless cards will increase from £20 to £30 per transaction. When the technology was first introduced the spending limit was £10, which increased to £20 following fast take-up of the payment method. The increase to £30 follows a serge in the use of contactless payments in the…
The increasingly popular virtual currency can now be chosen by users to add funds to their Microsoft accounts to pay for services such as games and videos on XBox games consoles, Windows phone apps and services, or to purchase Microsoft’s software. Rather than making an official announcement, Microsoft added a page to its customer support…
Commuters in London will be able to use their contactless payment cards to pay for their travel fares on Tube, tram, DLR, London Overground and National Rail services from today. The new technology will work the same way as the existing pre-payment Oyster travel card service, by ‘tapping’ the contactless enabled payment card against the…
The iPhone 6 was launched today and, as has been anticipated for quite some time, it brings a new contactless payment system which is expected to quickly go mainstream. The contactless payment system is marketed as being simple, easy to use technology, with no need to open an application prior to making the payment. The…