October 2019

A new deal between Google and Cubic Transportation Systems is set to make it possible for public transport users in a number of major cities around the world to use Google Pay to add their transit card to their NFC mobile phone. “Working with Cubic will help us simplify the commute for Google Pay users […]

Rail passengers are now choosing to use ‘smart tickets’ for half of all the journeys they make, the UK’s Rail Delivery Group (RTG) has revealed, paving the way for the introduction of a wide array of innovative new fare structures. The 50% adoption rate represents a rapid increase from just 37% a year ago. “Smart

Public transportation operators from across the US state of Ohio have gone live with EZfare, a new service that lets passengers use a single mobile ticketing app to buy tickets and passes from any of the participating operators. EZfare is available for both iOS and Android and has also been integrated into journey planning app

Visa, Mastercard, eBay, Stripe and Mercado Pago have followed PayPal in pulling out of Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency project. The moves mean that PayU is now the only payments company to still be listed as a founding member of the Libra Association. Read the rest of Facebook loses Libra cryptocurrency backers at NFCW.

The UK’s Royal Mint has unveiled a payment card that is produced entirely from 18-karat gold and comes with “no spending limit”. Dubbed “the world’s first hallmarked precious metals payment card”, the new Raris debit card is part of a growing trend in ultra-premium card formats. Swiss jeweller Armillion, for instance, recently unveiled a contactless

Madrid public transportation operator EMT has announced plans to run two next-generation transportation payments pilots. The first is a blockchain-based mobility-as-a-service platform while the second involves a six month pilot of face recognition based ticketing on the city’s buses. For the blockchain project, the goal is to create a single mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) platform that can

A major investigation into US consumers’ attitudes to mobile payments has found that concerns over how well they would be protected against loss should an issue arise is now the major barrier to widespread adoption of the technology. The findings are based on a nationally representative survey conducted by The Pew Charitable Trusts. This captured

The introduction of the Japanese government’s Cashless Japan initiative, which provides consumers with cashback incentives when they use a card or mobile phone to make a purchase, has led to a significant upswing in mobile payments adoption, according to reports from a number of merchants and mobile payments providers. Launched on 1 October, Cashless Japan