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Ethio Telecom's mobile money lures 4 mln in first month, document says; REUTERS
 
Ethio Telecom has signed up 4 million Ethiopians for a mobile money service that it launched in May, a document published by the Finance Ministry said, as the government seeks to sell a stake in the state-owned company.    (Read More)
 
South Africa's Vodacom bringing 70 businesses onto VodaPay 'super app'; REUTERS
 
South Africa’s Vodacom Group said on Tuesday about 70 businesses had signed up or committed to the mobile operator’s new digital financial services “super app” that promises to be a one-stop shop for online transactions.    (Read More)
 
PayPal makes in-store payments push as it launches Zettle POS reader in the US; ZDNet
 
In a major push for the in-store point-of-sale market, PayPal said Wednesday that it's launching its Zettle POS system in the US two years after acquiring the Swedish fintech company for $2.2 billion.    (Read More)

Viva Wallet launches Tap on Phone feature for Android POS app; Finextra
 
Viva Wallet, a pan-European neobank providing localised payment services to businesses has launched a Tap on Phone solution for both contactless and pin payments, with the capability of turning any NFC enabled Android device into a card terminal.   (Read More)
 
Smart Rings Seen as New Frontier for Cashless Payments;Bloomberg
 
As retailers around the world seek ways to make it easier for consumers to shop seamlessly without touching anything, one company in Japan is betting its technology can rule them all: a smart ring that can act as a wallet and a key.   (Read More)
 
BankDhofar Launches Mobile Banking Payments from Oman to India with RippleNet; Press Release
 
The use of mobile banking across the world has exploded, and the pandemic has provided an added impetus to implement more efficient and effective banking solutions for consumers and businesses alike. While providing a user-friendly mobile banking application should be seen as table stakes for every bank, developing an application that delivers an efficient transfer of funds is increasingly driving a competitive advantage and a point of differentiation.    (Read More)

Mobile money finally comes to Ethiopia; Developing Telecoms   
 
Ethio Telecom, the – for now – monopoly telecommunications provider in Ethiopia, has announced the roll-out of a mobile money service. Called TeleBirr, it will be available to Ethio Telecom subscribers from May this year.   (Read More)
 
PayPal CEO Dan Schulman: Cryptocurrency Is the Real Deal. And the Superapps Are Coming.
 
Like many CEOs on the West Coast, Dan Schulman has a sort of a uniform: blue jeans, black sweater and ostrich-skin cowboy boots. When it came time to replace his boots, Schulman, the CEO of PayPal, used one of the company’s new services to make the purchase. With a few clicks, in a few seconds, he bought the boots and paid for them with Bitcoin. “Boom,” he says. “It was pretty cool.”   (Read More)
 
Mobile bank Current raises $220 million Series D, triples valuation to $2.2B; Tech Crunch
 
U.S.-based challenger bank Current, which has now grown to nearly 3 million users, announced this morning it has raised a $220 million round of Series D funding, led by new investor Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). The funding swiftly follows Current’s $131 million Series C at the end of last year, at which point the company had doubled its user base over just six months to more than 2 million users.   (Read More)

Google launches Android Ready SE Alliance to drive adoption of digital credentials; NFC World
 
Google has joined with secure element (SE) vendors to launch the Android Ready SE Alliance to accelerate the adoption of new use cases for Android devices including digital car keys and mobile IDs.   (Read More)
 
Mobile Money Accounts Grow To 1.2 Billion In 2020, According To The GSMA; Press Release
 
The GSMA has today published its annual 'State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money'. It reveals a dramatic acceleration in mobile transactions during the COVID-19 pandemic as lockdown restrictions limited access to cash and financial institutions. The report found that the number of registered accounts grew by 13 per cent globally in 2020 to more than 1.2 billion – double the forecast. The fastest growth was in markets where governments provided significant pandemic relief to their citizens.   (Read More)
 
Mercedes rolls out contactless in-vehicle fuel payments in Germany; NFC World
 
Mercedes drivers in Germany can now make contactless in-car payments for fuel directly from their Mercedes me app or via their vehicle’s infotainment system using the luxury car maker’s new Fuel & Pay digital payments service.   (Read More)

Google’s Redesigned Digital Wallet Tries to Make Payments Feel More Personal; The Wall Street Journal
 
Alphabet Inc.’s Google is trying to draw more people to its payment app and keep them there longer with features such as a reward system, new financial management services and a format for listing payments that evokes text-message conversations.   (Read More)
 
Gartner Says Worldwide Smartphone Sales Declined 5% in Fourth Quarter of 2020; Press Release
 
Global sales of smartphones to end users declined 5.4% in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to Gartner, Inc. Smartphone sales declined 12.5% in full year 2020.     (Read More)
 
Covid-19: Contactless ATM withdrawals go mainstream; Finextra
 
Covid-19 has accelerated the trend towards contactless cash withdrawals in Switzerland, according to SIX, which says that more than a third of machines in the country are now equipped with QR code readers while another 20% have NFC readers.     (Read More)

Pine Labs launches AllTap App for small merchants to accept contactless payments via their smartphones; CNBC
 
Merchant commerce platform Pine Labs has today launched an AllTap app with am aim to accelerate digital payments adoption in India. Specially designed for small merchants, this free to download app can enable the user to immediately start accepting digital payments without the need of any additional hardware. As of now, the app Pine Labs AllTap app is available on Google Play Store   (Read More)
 
PBOC to launch third digital yuan trial in Shenzhen; NFCW
 
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is to follow its pilots of NFC-based contactless digital currency payments with the distribution of a further 20m digital yuan (US$3.1m) in a third ‘red envelope’ lottery to be held in the city of Shenzhen.   (Read More)
 
TikTok owner ByteDance launches Douyin Pay, mobile payment service for China; REUTERS
 
Beijing-based ByteDance recently launched its own third-party payment service for Douyin, the Chinese version of its hit short video app TikTok, as it presses to expand into the e-commerce business in China.   (Read More)

Xoom, a PayPal service, announces secure money transfers to mobile wallets in 12 countries in Africa; Press Release
 
Xoom, PayPal's money transfer service, announced that the company's customers in the US, UK, Canada and Europe can now send secure and convenient money transfers directly to mobile wallets in key markets across Africa with a focus on the underbanked segment. This new service expands the company's offering to send money to mobile wallets in Burundi, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe—with plans to include more markets in 2021.   (Read More)
 
Kenyan bank launches mobile payments service; ICLG.com
 
Nairobi-headquartered private bank Prime Bank has taken a further step into the fintech market by launching an international money transfer service, in collaboration with London-headquartered company SimbaPay.  (Read More)
 
M-Pesa Revenue Dip In Kenya Is Beyond Mobile Money Fee Waivers; WeeTracker
 
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) imposed a fee waiver on transfers for transactions of no more than KES 1 K (USD 9.15 at current rates). This was part of efforts aimed at containing the spread of the virus as banknotes were identified as a risk factor for the contagion. The intention was that this action would trigger the increased use of mobile money services and limit cash-handling.  (Read More)

Walmart’s new test stores will experiment with AR, mobile, revamped checkout and more; TechCrunch
 
Walmart over the years has been working to turn its physical retail stores into online fulfillment centers, and now, with its latest set of test stores announced today, the retailer will try out ideas to make that transition more seamless. Walmart says it will deploy personnel to four test stores across the U.S., where they’ll prototype and iterate on new technology and tools that will serve the needs of Walmart’s in-store shoppers and online shoppers alike, including changes involving augmented reality, handheld mobile devices, new apps, in-store signage, omni-assortment and revamped checkout stations.  (Read More)
 
Facebook adds hosting, shopping features and pricing tiers to WhatsApp Business; TechCrunch
 
Facebook has been making a big play to be a go-to partner for small and medium businesses that use the internet to interface with the wider world, and its messaging platform WhatsApp, with some 50 million businesses and 175 million people messaging them (and more than 2 billion users overall) has been a central part of that pitch.   (Read More)
 
Visa Tap to Phone Transforms Payment Acceptance for Sellers Worldwide; Press Release
 
As the world increasingly turns to digital payments amidst COVID-19, a simple mobile app can help millions of sellers worldwide quickly and securely accept contactless payments, while improving the checkout experience for customers. After piloting Visa Tap to Phone over the past year, Visa (NYSE:V) today announced product availability in more than 15 markets with plans to expand to the United States and accelerate global product growth in the rest of the world via more than 35 new partners, including Visa Ready for Tap to Phone partners.   (Read More)

Pandemic spurs Africa's mobile telcos to ramp up banking bid; REUTERS
 
When COVID-19 hit Ivory Coast, Bonaventure Kra, who works at an import-export business, began to worry. Handling hard cash all day was a risk. Queuing in crowded bank branches exposed him to infection.  (Read More)
 
Apple lets kids use their Apple Watch to make payments with Apple Pay; NFC World
 
Parents with an iPhone can now transfer funds to their children’s Apple Watch so they can then use it to make payments using Apple Pay. Parents using Apple Cash Family can also choose to receive a notification each time their children use the service. Notifications include details of both how and when the funds were used.   (Read More)
 
Payments giant Paytm says Google’s Android monopoly is of grave concern to Indian start-ups; CNBC
 
Google’s monopoly over Android — the mobile operating system used by most smartphones around the world — is a major concern for Indian start-ups, a top executive at online payments firm Paytm said Tuesday.   (Read More)

BBVA to pilot contactless payments acceptance on standard Android NFC smartphones; NFCW
 
Spanish banking group BBVA is to pilot a service which will enable merchants to accept contactless payments on their Android smartphones without the need of additional hardware.   (Read More)
 
Remitly Doubles Mobile Wallet Offerings and Global Consumer Reach Amid COVID-19 Pandemic; Press Release
 
Remitly, the mobile-first provider of remittances and financial services for immigrants, today announced the expansion of its mobile wallet network, which now reaches more than 300 million mobile wallet holders across the world, more than doubling its reach from 160 million earlier this year. Since March, Remitly has added 11 new partners into its mobile wallet network. Now, Remitly customers can send money instantly through nearly 25 mobile wallet brands, including well-known and trusted players such as M-PESA, MTN Mobile Money, bKash, Gcash, Airtel Mobile Money, GoPay and Ovo, many of which are accessible through Remitly's partnership with Thunes, a leading payments network for emerging markets.   (Read More)
 
Apple Pay is now available via new banks in Italy, Portugal, and more; iMore
 
It's sometimes very easy to forget that Apple Pay isn't available at every bank around the world, especially if you happen to live in a country where it's ubiquitous. But Apple Pay continues to expand its reach around the globe with the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, and Switzerland now all getting new Apple Pay support at specific banks.   (Read More)

PayPal adds 21 million new active accounts in strong second quarter; ZDNet
 
PayPal reported its strongest ever quarter driven by an uptick in new users and payments flowing through its platform. During the entire second quarter, PayPal said people were using its payments service at levels equal to the five days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday.    (Read More)
 
Google Pay is now available for 25 new banks in 14 countries; Press Release
 
Google Pay support is ever expanding among financial institutions, and that's both the case in the US and the rest of the world. As such, we've compiled a list of the latest international banks that have added their credit and debit cards to Google's contactless payment service, coming in at a total of 25 institutions across 14 (mostly European) countries.    (Read More)
 
Paytm to offer stock broking services soon; The Economic Times
 
In a fireside chat with Rajan Anandan, MD, Sequoia Capital India, in the ongoing Global Fintech Fest, Sharma said, “Payments has been the largest revenue for us. Thereafter, we started our e-commerce business and financial services stack such as insurance and we hope to do lending. Then we have our mutual fund business and we hope to do stock brokerage soon which we will be launching in a few weeks.”    (Read More)

Zimbabwe suspends stock exchange, mobile payments over 'economic sabotage'; Reuters
 
Zimbabwe on Friday suspended trade on the stock exchange and mobile phone-based payments to address what President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government called “criminality and economic sabotage”.   (Read More)
 
PayPal Rolls Out QR Code Touch-Free Payments in Canada; Press Release
 
As much of Canada enters and progresses through Stage 2 of reopening, PayPal today launched QR code payments in Canada for small businesses to accept touch-free mobile payments from their customers using the PayPal app. From local stores to hair salons and farmers markets, this new functionality in the PayPal app allows customers to buy or sell in-person, safely and securely without needing to purchase any new equipment. To continue helping small businesses, PayPal is waiving the standard seller transaction fees incurred on sales conducted using a QR Code1 through September 30, 2020.   (Read More)
 
Boost Payment Solutions Collaborates with BMO Harris Bank to Deliver Automated B2B Payment Solutions to its Corporate Card Clients; Press Release
 
Boost Payment Solutions, Inc., the leader in optimizing the use and acceptance of commercial cards, announced today a strategic collaboration with BMO Harris Bank. Boost will now provide straight-through processing (STP) technology to extend BMO Harris Bank’s Approve2Pay® Corporate Card solution with automated processing, enhanced remittance reporting, and operational efficiencies for both buyers and suppliers.  (Read More)

PayPal Rolls Out QR Code Payments for a Touch Free Way to Buy and Sell In-Person; Press Release
 
PayPal Holdings, Inc. has today rolled out the ability to use QR Codes to buy and sell goods in 28 markets around the globe. From farmers markets to selling secondhand goods - the rollout of the QR code functionality in the PayPal app allows customers to buy or sell in-person, safely and securely, and touch free.      (Read More)
 
Ghana switches on national instant QR mobile payments platform; NFCW
 
The Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS) has switched on a QR code-based mobile payments platform that uses a nationally harmonised QR symbol and instantly transfers funds from a consumer’s mobile wallet or bank account to the merchant’s.      (Read More)
 
 
The Next Innovation for Samsung Pay; Press Release
 
Now more than ever, people are counting on technology to help them make contactless payments, shop, and manage their finances without leaving the house. Samsung is here to help. Our mission is to make everyday life easier so you can focus on what’s most important.     (Read More)

WhatsApp eyes lending feature in India as Amazon rolls out Pay Later to tens of thousands of customers; Tech Crunch
 
WhatsApp, which began testing its mobile payments feature in India two years ago, could offer at least one more financial service to people in its biggest market.   (Read More)
 
JCB introduces Tap on Mobile solution for JCB Contactless Payments on Android Smartphones; Press Release
 
JCB Co. Ltd. ("JCB"), Japan's only international payment brand, is leveraging Asia's leading fintech player, Soft Space Sdn. Bhd.'s ("Soft Space") technological expertise to develop the Tap on Mobile programme that capitalises on the wide availability of Android smartphones equipped with NFC (near-field communication).   (Read More)
 
Paytm builds 'contactless in-store ordering' solution for restaurants after lockdown; Business Standard
 
Paytm on Monday said it has developed a 'contactless in-store ordering' solution to help restaurants and eateries minimise physical contacts for menu, billing and cash transactions after these businesses open after the lockdown.   (Read More)

Popular European banking app Revolut is launching in the US today; The Verge
 
Mobile banking app Revolut, which has more than 10 million customers in Europe, is launching today in the US, the company announced.     (Read More)
 
UK raises contactless transaction limit by 50%; NFCW
 
The spending limit for contactless card payments in the UK is being increased from £30 (US$35.33) to £45 (US$52.99), UK Finance has announced. The new spending limit will begin to roll out from 1 April 2020.     (Read More)
 
Demand for online and contactless payments soars in South Africa due to coronavirus; Inteligent CIO
 
Demand for secure online and contactless payments is surging in South Africa on the back of fears around the spread of coronavirus, with many people reluctant to use cash or to touch point of sale machines.      (Read More)

Apple Pay is on pace to account for 10% of all global card transactions; Quartz
 
Apple’s mobile wallet is gobbling up a growing chunk of card payments around the world. As the service grows, it’s becoming a greater challenge to rivals like PayPal and attracting the attention of competition watchdogs.    (Read More)
 
Contactless payments set to triple to US$6tn by 2024; NFCW
 
Global contactless transaction values will reach nearly US$6tn in 2024, up from US$2tn today, Juniper Research forecasts. “This increase will be driven by significant growth in OEM Pay and contactless card transaction values, especially in the US,” the analysts say.    (Read More)
 
MoneyGram Launches Innovative MoneyGram FastSend™ Service Enabling Customers to Send Money Directly to a Phone Number; Press Release
 
MoneyGram International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGI), a global leader in cross-border P2P payments and money transfers, today announced the launch of MoneyGram FastSend™, a new service through which consumers can send money quickly and easily to their friend's mobile phone number via the MoneyGram website and mobile app. The new service, supported by the Visa Direct rails, enables the industry's fastest transaction times and the most seamless money transfer user experience. In this revolutionary new product, customers can send and receive money in just a couple of clicks.  (Read More)

Shell lets Fiat Chrysler drivers pay for fuel from their vehicles; NFCW
 
Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram drivers can now use Uconnect Market, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ new in-vehicle commerce platform, to pay for fuel at Shell-branded stations across the US.   (Read More)
 
The way to Indians’ wallet is through cricket. Just ask PhonePe; Quartz India
 
Cricket is a religion in India, and digital payments major PhonePe knows it better than anyone. The secret sauce for the success of the Walmart-backed company, which has lately been breathing down rival Paytm’s neck, is cricket sponsorships.     (Read More)
 
Mobile payment app Lydia raises $45 million round led by Tencent; TechCrunch
 
French startup Lydia is raising a $45 million Series B round (€40 million). Tencent is leading the round with existing investors CNP Assurances, XAnge and New Alpha also participating.     (Read More)

S. Korea launches "open banking" services to lower fee, enhance convenience; Asia&Pacific
 
Under the open banking system, bank customers will be allowed to use any mobile banking application they choose to approach their bank accounts at any local bank and to withdraw and transfer money from their bank accounts.   (Read)
 
SoftBank-backed Paytm to allot 2.6 million shares in fundraising; Reuters
 
SoftBank-backed Indian digital payments startup Paytm’s parent is set to allot about 2.6 million shares to investors, according to a latest filing by the company.       (Read)
 
Visa and Global Partners Expand Access to Cross-Border Payments for Consumers and SMBs; Press Release
 
In today’s connected world, moving money for consumers and businesses should be as simple and routine as sending a text message. Yet, in many cases, consumers and businesses still rely on manual, paper-based processes, high fees and cash to send money to friends, families and business partners. Through Visa Direct, a real-time push payment solution that has processed 2 billion transactions in the past year, Visa is working with partners and clients around the world to simplify, digitize and drive costs down in the rapidly-growing remittances space.     (Read)

Ibotta Holiday Shopping and Mobile Payments Study: Two-Thirds of Shoppers Plan to Use Mobile Payments for Holiday Shopping; Press Release
 
Survey finds 52 percent of consumers are overwhelmed by the volume of mobile payments and rewards programs available; still open to using but expect rewards in return.      (Read More)
 
Bank of America updates Android app to support Pixel 4 face unlock; 9to5Google
 
Release notes for version 8.3.11 of Bank of America for Android prominently mentions the “Ability to sign in with face unlock (Pixel 4 only).” After updating, you’ll need to enter your password one more time, and select the “Set up biometric sign-in” checkbox.      (Read More)
 
PayByPhone Surpasses 30 Million Users; Press Release
 
PayByPhone, the leading global provider of mobile parking payment solutions, today announced it reached over 30 million registered users mark – a 22 percent growth from last year. Additionally, PayByPhone completed more than 102 million global transactions year to date. The volume of PayByPhone's transactions rose 29 percent year-over-year.       (Read More)

eMarketer identifies top countries for mobile payments adoption; NFC World
 
China remains the country with by far the highest mobile payments adoption rate, with 81.1% of smartphone owners making use of the technology, eMarketer reports.   (Read More)
 
Apple Pay Dominance Drives Mobile Payment Transaction Volume; Press Release
 
Apple Pay’s dominance, as well as increasing retailer adoption of proximity mobile payment technology, is driving transaction volume growth in the US, according to our latest forecast.   (Read More)
 
UPI achieves double milestone of 1 billion transactions, over 100 million users in Oct; aims to go global soon; Business Today
 
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) which launched the domestic payments platform three years ago and operates it as well aims to take the fund transfer system to other countries such as Singapore and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).   (Read More)

Why Mobile Payments Don’t Deliver for Merchants; Digital Transactions
 
Mobile payments so far account for a mere 2% or less of U.S. general-purpose card payments, according to some estimates, and that’s no surprise to some executives who believe mobile payments haven’t delivered for many merchants.   (Read More)
 
SnapPay Energizes Sales for Small Businesses through Chinese Mobile Payments; Press Release
 
SnapPay, Inc., provider of international payment solutions, today announced how small and independent businesses can easily offer popular Chinese mobile payment applications, Alipay and WeChat Pay. Offering Chinese mobile payments provides small businesses in North America the opportunity to secure substantial incremental revenue and drive customer loyalty. With SnapPay’s payment gateway, retailers and merchants can accept preferred Chinese payment methods with minimal effort and training time.    (Read More)

​Nordic banking app Lunar Way raises €26 million and secures European banking license; EU-Startups
 
Copenhagen-based banking app Lunar Way has raised a €26 million round led by SEED Capital, while obtaining a European banking license from the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority.   (Read More)      

N26 launches its challenger bank in the US; TechCrunch
 
European fintech startup N26 is now accepting customers in the U.S. The company is launching a bank account with a debit card that should provide a better experience compared to traditional retail banks.  (Read More)
 
Walmart Got a $10 Billion Surprise After Buying Flipkart; Bloomberg
 
When Walmart Inc. paid $16 billion for control of India’s e-commerce pioneer Flipkart Online Services Pvt. last year, the American retail giant got a little-noticed digital payments subsidiary as part of the deal. Now the business is emerging as one of the country’s top startups, a surprise benefit for Walmart from its largest-ever acquisition.  (Read More)
 
WhatsApp Pay is on the verge of launching in India; Business Insider
 
WhatsApp has created the necessary data storage facilities in India to introduce WhatsApp Pay to the chat app's entire Indian user base, which is estimated to be between 350 million and 400 million users, according to The Economic Times.  (Read More)

Apple Pay set to debut in 16 additional European countries; Electronic Payments International
 
Technology giant Apple is set to launch its mobile payment platform Apple Pay for cardholders in 16 additional countries in Eastern Europe, MacRumors has reported.  (Read More)
 
 
Google’s new plan to push Google Pay in India: cashback incentives in Android apps; Tech Crunch
 
Google  is gunning for India’s payment companies. The U.S. search giant entered India’s payment space in 2017, and now it is hatching an initiative that could boost usage of its Google Pay service by tying it tightly to Android apps in the country.  (Read More)
 
Japan to unify mobile payment codes, enlisting Chinese giants; Nikkei Asian Review
 
Line and Alibaba Group Holding are among five major internet businesses from Japan and China that will standardize QR codes that are scanned to make payments via smartphones in Japan, Nikkei has learned.  (Read More)

CellPoint Mobile Enables Viva Air to Become the First Airline in Latin America to Offer Apple Pay and Google Pay; Press Release
 
CellPoint Mobile, a leading provider of digital commerce and payment solutions for airlines and travel companies will enable the roll-out of multiple digital and mobile payment methods for Viva Air, starting with Apple Pay, Google Pay, MasterPass and Visa Checkout. CellPoint Mobile is fast-tracking the deployment of these payment methods along with Viva Air's current payment provider Ingenico.  (Read More)
 
Apriva and AveriGo Announce Mobile Solution for Quickly Launching New Micro Markets; Press Release
 
Apriva, LLC, a technology company providing an adaptive platform for secure mobile communications and omnichannel payments, and AveriGo, LLC, a software solutions provider for the vending and food/beverage service industries, today announced a disruptive new technology for launching micro markets without upfront equipment, network, or software costs. This mobile-first solution allows vending operators to launch new micro markets in a matter of hours and profitably deploy even at small locations. (Read More)
 
Alibaba Group's mobile payment platform coming to Capital One Arena; Washington Business Journal
 
The platform, which serves one billion users worldwide, is available across the arena's ticketing, concessions and team store — making Capital One Arena the first stadium of its kind globally to have the leading Chinese payment app available for visitors.  (Read More)

Digital wallet payments surge on Apple Pay: CBA; The Sydney Morning Harold
 
The Commonwealth Bank says the number of digital wallet transactions has nearly tripled since it launched Apple Pay earlier this year, as strong growth in tap-and-go payments continues to displace cash. (Read More)
 
Instagram Unlocks In-App Purchasing; Business of Fashion
 
With so much sponsored content and promotions from mega-influencers, will new shopping features drive users away from the photo-sharing platform, which has long been touted as a discovery tool?  (Read More)
 
You will soon be able to pay your subway fare with your face in China; South China Evening Post
 
China has led the world in adoption of smartphone-based mobile payments to the point where the central bank had to remind merchants not to discriminate against cash. The next phase of development may be to pay with your face.  (Read More)

Your Starbucks Rewards Card Is Killing U.S. Mobile Payments; Forbes
 
Here’s something to think about the next time you are swigging down a frothy Double Mocha Macchiato at the viridian mermaid’s: your Starbucks Rewards app is one of the main reasons why the U.S. is a global laggard when it comes to mobile fintech adoption.  (Read More)
 
7-Eleven expands mobile payment options; Canadian Business Franchise
 
Retail franchisor 7-Eleven has announced it will now accept Chinese mobile payment systems Alipay and WeChat Pay. These mobile payment options are currently available at 35 select locations in Vancouver and Toronto, with plans for expansion in the next few months.  (Read More)

Chinese banks fight tech giants for share of mobile payments market; NFC World
 
China UnionPay has reported an increase in the number of Chinese consumers using their bank accounts to make mobile payments. The rise follows an offensive by Chinese banks to counteract the rise of mobile payments made on the payment services of technology platforms such as Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu.   (Read More)

Payments using FASTags at petrol pumps, parking lots soon; Live Mint
 
New Delhi: Consumers will soon be able to buy petrol and pay parking fees using FASTags, the electronic toll collection system. Nitin Gadkari, the minister for road transport and highways, on Monday launched new bank-neutral FASTags issued by Indian Highways Management Company Ltd (IHMCL).  (Read More)
 
JCB Launches QR Code Payment in the Asian Region; Press Release
 
JCB International Co., Ltd., the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co., Ltd, today announced that JCB has launched EMV standardized QR Code Payment service. JCB QR Code Payment is a new mobile payment solution for JCB cardmembers to scan the QR Code displayed at the merchant point-of-sale by their mobile phone. This merchant-presented QR Code Payment is a cost-efficient and easy implementation solution for JCB partner financial institutions and their merchants.  (Read More)
 
BlueSnap Announces Global Availability of Google Pay, Improving the Payment Experience for All B2B and B2C Customers; Press Release
 
BlueSnap, an online payments technology company, today announced the global availability of Google Pay™ in the All-in-One Payment Platform. With this integration customers across Australia, Europe and North America can now leverage Google Pay to accept payments made via online and mobile checkout, marketplaces, subscriptions, invoices and virtual terminals.  (Read More)

Western Union Works with TerraPay to Expand Payout Options to Millions of Mobile Wallets; Financial Post
 
Western Union, a leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement, announces an alliance with TerraPay to enable mobile wallet and bank account payout. The alliance further expands upon Western Union’s account payout network for sending remittances directly into customers’ mobile wallets across Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America.  (Read More)
 
How Chinese companies are planning a global fintech coup; Factor Daily
 
Millions of entrepreneurs do business on mega platforms run by Alibaba and WeChat. China’s fintech growth, on the back of these platforms, has been unprecedented. With a record $12.8 trillion in mobile payment transactions in the 10 months to October last year, China even surpassed the United States, at only $49.3 billion during that period.  (Read More)
 
MoneyGram Launches Mobile App in U.S. and 14 Additional Countries; Press Release
 
MoneyGram announced today its new mobile app is now available for consumers in the U.S., the company's largest send market, and 14 additional countries. The MoneyGram mobile app (IOS and Android) offers convenient features like biometric identification, location finder, transfer tracking, plus exchange rates and fee estimates.  (Read More)

Over a third of all Black Friday web sales were made on smartphones; New York Post
 
Mobile shoppers are throwing a brick through the wall of Black Friday convention. Early figures indicate that consumers are increasingly turning to their mobile devices to take care of their holiday buying needs.  (Read More)
 
China and Norway love mobile wallets. The U.S.? Not so much; Fast Company
 
That’s according to data compiled by merchant account and card payment fee comparison firm Merchant Machine. The firm looks at mobile payment spending across the world in 2017, the most recent year full figures are available for, and found the top 10 countries where mobile wallets are the most popular.  (Read More)
 
Mobile payments now account for 6% of all UK card transactions; NFC World  
 
The percentage of payments made with a mobile phone in UK stores has jumped from 1.3% in Q3 2016 to 5.6% in Q3 2018, an analysis of 190m card transactions has shown. Compared to this time last year, the volume of contactless mobile payments has increased by 60%.  (Read More)

Smart marketplaces bridge the implicit and complex; TechCrunch
 
Marketplace businesses are intrinsically linked to the technologies that enable them. There would be no Craigslist  without email/SMTP, no eBay without the graphical browser and no Uber without location services and ubiquitous smartphones. As enabling technologies have evolved, marketplaces have grown to facilitate increasingly complex exchanges in new environments and industries. The next level? They will get smart: goodbye marketplace 1.0, hello smarketplace.  (Read More)
 
Paytm launches PayPay in Japan, in joint venture with SoftBank, Yahoo Japan; Livemint
 
Paytm, run by One 97 Communications Ltd, has launched a barcode-based smartphone payment service called PayPay in Japan, in a joint venture with SoftBank Corporation and Yahoo Japan Corporation, the company said in a statement on Monday.  (Read More)
 
Bank of Montreal Brings Biometric Mobile Authentication to Commercial and Corporate Clients; Mobile ID World
 
One of Canada’s biggest banks is bringing biometric mobile authentication to its commercial and corporate clients thanks to BioConnect technology.  (Read More)       

Pulling funds from bank accounts: best practices for mobile money providers; Press Release
 
In our 2017 Edition of The State of The Industry report, we highlighted an increase in funds entering and leaving the mobile money system in digital form.    (Read More)
 
Earnest Labs reveals results of contactless charity donation platform Tap for Change; The Drum
 
Contactless charity donation platform Tap for Changem, created by Earnest Labs, has been used to make 16,250 donations, with an average donation of £6.15, over the past three months.   (Read More)
 
Orange invests in SA fintech provider; African Law & Business
 
A South African company offering small businesses the ability to take mobile card payments has received funding to expand across sub-Saharan Africa, with multinational mobile phone company Orange leading the way.   (Read More)

Square sellers no longer need signatures for card payments; engaget
 
Square Cash is continuing its crusade to make the business of parting with your hard-earned money a little less painful. It's just announced that it has cut down EMV transaction time on Square Reader for contactless and chip even further, to just two seconds, compared to the average eight to 13 seconds. The process uses a new "dip transaction flow" that prioritizes the parts of a transaction that are critical to security, which means less time standing in line, waiting for your card info to churn through to the issuer.  (Read More)
 
Bank of East Asia joins the mobile payments race as traditional lenders challenge tech firms; South China Morning Post
 
Bank of East Asia has become the latest lender to join the mobile payments fray in Hong Kong with the launch on Monday of the first all-in-one electronic payment platform for merchants.  (Read More)

Facebook Faces Delay to WhatsApp Payments in India; Bloomberg
 
India’s government is holding up Facebook Inc.’s plans for a nationwide launch of its WhatsApp payments service over concerns about how users’ data will be stored and other issues, according to people familiar with the matter.   (Read More)
 
More than half billion Chinese pay by mobile phones; Xinhuanet
 
China saw fast expansion in the number of mobile payment users last year, reaching 527 million at the end of 2017, according to an internet industry report. The number of mobile payment users increased by 57.83 million in 2017, 12.3-percent growth, the Internet Society of China said in the report.    (Read More)
 
MYPINPAD Launches Open mPOS Platform for PIN on Mobile; Press Release
 
MYPINPAD, the global leader in payment acceptance and authentication software solutions, today announces the launch of Open mPOS. Open mPOS is a complete mPOS authentication platform that uniquely enables merchants, Acquirers and Payment Service Providers (PSPs) to deploy PIN on Mobile technologies without the need to undergo their own Software PIN on COTS (SPoC) PCI certification.     (Read More)

Venmo is discontinuing web support for payments and more; TechCrunch
 
PayPal-owned, peer-to-peer payments app Venmo is ending web support for its service, the company announced in an email to users. The changes, which are beginning to roll out now, will see the Venmo .com website phasing out support for making payments and charging users. In time, users will see even less functionality on the website, the company says.   (Read More)
 
Caviar drivers can now get paid instantly through Square’s Cash App; The Verge
 
It’s standard practice to receive your paycheck every couple of weeks. But now Caviar, the food delivery service from Square, is launching an option for delivery drivers that’ll make the process of getting paid instant.    (Read More)
 
Maybank Tie-up Puts GrabPay Ahead in Cashless Race; finews.asia
 
A recent tie-up with Maybank boosts ride-hailing giant Grab's ambitious plans to expand its mobile wallet across unbanked regions in Southeast Asia.        (Read More)

PayPal CFO sees opportunity in consumers who have mobile devices, but not bank accounts; CNBC
 
PayPal is doubling down on the idea of helping the "unbanked" — people who don't use typical financial services — by chasing one key group, CFO John Rainey told CNBC on Wednesday.   (Read More)
 
Walmart just abandoned cashierless checkout, and it reveals a huge challenge in its battle with Amazon; Business Insider
 
Walmart just killed an app that let shoppers scan and pay for items with their smartphones so they could skip waiting in line at checkout registers, the company confirmed to Business Insider on Tuesday.   (Read More)
 
Paytm Launches My Payments, Aims To Process $8.9 Bn Bank Transfers by Year-end; Inc42
 
Homegrown digital payments giant Paytm has introduced My Payments feature on its app to enable Paytm users to schedule and make recurring, high-value payments and other monthly remittances without any hassle.  (Read More)

Tunisia operators make mobile money interoperable; Mobile World Live
 
Tunisia became the latest country to introduce interoperability between rival mobile money services, with the functionality set to be expanded to traditional financial institutions.  (Read More)
 
Samsung Canada teams up with RBC to expand Samsung Pay availability to Canadians; Press Release
 
Samsung Electronics Canada Inc. announced today that Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) personal payment cards are now supported by Samsung Pay, the widely accepted mobile payment system that works almost anywhere you can swipe or tap a card.1 This latest announcement follows the expanded Canadian availability of Samsung Pay, with RBC joining existing Samsung Pay partners including CIBC, American Express Canada, ATB Financial, Interac Debit, Mastercard, Scotiabank and Visa Canada.     (Read More)
 
The reach of West Africa’s mobile money sector is 13 times wider than local banks; Quartz
 
As the West Africa mobile economy report by GSMA shows, mobile adoption in West Africa has nearly doubled from 28% at the turn of the decade to 47% last year. Indeed, by the end of 2017, there were 176 million unique subscribers across the region’s 15-member states. Just as importantly, by the end of last year, the number of mobile internet subscribers has doubled over the last four years to reach 78 million—nearly half of the total number of mobile subscribers.     (Read More)

Google Pay on Wear OS officially spreads to three new countries; Android Police
 
When you're itching to try out a new feature on your favorite mobile device, there's little that sucks more than facing a geographical restriction; while your friends abroad are playing with the latest and greatest tech, you're stuck twiddling your thumbs and waiting until the powers that be decide to let you in on the action. Earlier today we noted that one of these restrictions appeared to be lessening, as some Huawei Watch 2 users who were shut out when an update disabled Google Pay (then Android Pay) outside the US and the UK started getting their access back—that was a clue, but not the whole story. Now we've got the complete picture on who's currently able to make Google Pay payments with their smartwatches, as Google confirms official support in Canada, Spain, and Australia.   (Read More)
 
Payfone Launches Platform to Help Retailers Enable Faster, Easier and More Secure Customer Experiences; Press Release
 
"Instant Experiences for Retail" leverages Payfone's existing digital identity authentication technology to equip retailers with the speed, security and enhanced user experiences necessary to gain an advantage in today's competitive landscape.    (Read More)
 
PIN-on-Glass Technology Will Be Deployed In an Ingenico Test With MyPINPad; Digital Transactions
 
Point-of-sale terminal maker Ingenico Group will test the PIN-on-glass specification in conjunction with MyPINPad and its software-based PIN-pad technology, MyPINPad announced Thursday.    (Read More)           

Zimbabwe is pushing for mobile money interoperability as its cash problems linger; Quartz Media
 
Zimbabwe could become one of Africa’s early adopters of full interoperability in the mobile money sector if the government is to have its way.     (Read More)
 
Mobile wallet is gradually displacing cash in India, says GlobalData; Press Release
 
The mobile wallet market in India is poised for significant growth as Indian consumers are increasingly turning away from cash and card, says leading data and analytics company GlobalData. According to the 2017 Consumer Payments Insight Survey by the company, India is one of the top markets globally in terms of mobile wallet adoption with 55.4% survey respondents indicating that they have a mobile wallet and use it. India is followed by China and Denmark.     (Read More)
 
Docomo Digital partners with Safaricom to launch Google Play purchases via M-Pesa; Mobile Payments Today
 
Docomo Digital has partnered with Safaricom to give customers the option to pay for content on the Google Play Store using M-Pesa, according to a press release.    (Read More)

A third UK survey and a third set of fascinating insights into the progress of mobile payments, and the nature of the obstacles that stand in their way. Press Release
 
While mobile payments as a category are clearly going mainstream – no longer the preserve of tech-savvy early adopters and millennials – the proliferation of payments options and the insurgency of global technology companies into the world of payments means that the precise shape of our payments future, and the likely winners and losers is far harder to see.   (Read More)
 
Taiwan outlines measures to promote mobile payment usage; Focus Taiwan
 
Taipei, Jan. 9 (CNA) Premier Lai Ching-te on Tuesday urged government agencies to earmark spending to subsidize transaction fees in a way that makes the use of mobile payments for in-store purchases more attractive to consumers.    (Read More)
 
Apple & Google to Bring Social Payments to the Masses, Driving Mobile P2P Users to Reach 2.5bn This Year; Press Release
 
A new study from Juniper Research has found that the global number of registered mobile domestic money transfer users is expected to reach 2.5 billion this year, up from an estimated 1.7 billion in 2016.    (Read More)    

Gemalto connects to both Mastercard and Visa tokenisation services; Finextra
 
Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, announces that its Trusted Service Hub (TSH) can now offer a single gateway enabling issuers to connect to the Mastercard and Visa tokenization services, simplifying the way financial institutions can launch mobile payment services.    (Read More)
 
Over 2,500 Hong Kong taxi drivers sign up to cashless WeChat Pay and Alipay; South China Morning Post
 
With Hong Kong cashless payment operator Octopus still struggling to woo the city’s 40,000 taxi drivers, two mainland e-payment players, Alipay and WeChat Pay HK, are already leading the race with aggressive marketing to vie for a slice of the taxi pie.    (Read More)
 
Discover Mobile App Users Now Can Log In with a Glance on Apple’s iPhone X; Press Release
 
Discover announced today that cardmembers and Discover Bank customers who own an iPhone X can take advantage of Face ID to sign in to the Discover Mobile app. The feature offers app users an intuitive and secure mobile log-in experience that requires no more than glancing at the device.     (Read More)

Sellers can now invoice buyers through PayPal’s new chat extension for Messenger; TechCrunch
 
PayPal and Facebook are expanding their integrations today with the launch of an extension for Messenger that allows PayPal sellers to invoice buyers directly through private messaging. The feature is ideal for use with Facebook’s numerous Buy and Sell groups as well as Facebook Marketplace, in addition to being an easy way to send PayPal invoices in general.   (Read More)
 
ICICI Bank launches Eazypay mobile app; GADGETS NOW
 
The ICICI Bank has launched Easypay - a mobile application to enable merchants, retailers and professionals to accept instant cashless payments on mobile phones from customers.    (Read More)
 
Why Isn’t Chase Pay Taking Off? paymentweek
 
It wasn’t so long ago that JP Morgan Chase joined the mobile payments hunt with its Chase Pay system. Recent reports, however, suggest that the new offering is going over like a lead balloon, and isn’t drawing much in the way of a user base. Analysis of the overall condition suggests one root cause that may be to blame: customers just aren’t that interested in Chase Pay.     (Read More)

Wirecard adds major 'Pays' support to US prepaid card business; Mobile Paymentstoday
 
Wirecard has announced the launch of mobile wallet integration with Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay in the U.S., according to a press release.   (Read More)
 
Google reports 7.5m users of its Tez audio QR mobile payments app; NFC World
 
Edited Transcript of GOOGL earnings conference call or presentation 26-Oct-17 8:30pm GMT.   (Read More)    
 
Security Concerns and Problems at the Register Continue to Depress Mobile Pay Usage and Net Promoter Scores, says Auriemma Consulting Group; Press Release
 
Mobile pay usage among eligible consumers is down 5% compared to this time last year (25% vs. 30%). And the decline in adoption is expected to continue into Q4 – a period that has seen seasonal dips in Mobile Pay usage the past two years, according to Auriemma Consulting Group's Mobile Pay Tracker.    (Read More)

PayToday introduces mobile fuel payments; New Era
 
Windhoek-Pioneering Namibian-based payment startup PayToday recently introduced business payments, including fuel stations, to its peer-to-peer payment app. PayToday had a soft launch in March, but the initial version of the app only facilitated informal person-to-person payments. At the beginning of September, PayToday launched its business section and the response from the public has been overwhelming.   (Read More)
 
WeChat confirms that it makes all private user data available to the Chinese government; Money Control
 
WeChat has confirmed what has been rumoured all along i.e. it gives all user information to the Chinese government. The popular app in a privacy statement is now informing the users that virtually all the private user information will be disclosed to the authorities.      (Read More)
 
Is Google's Tez too late to the digital payments game in India? CIO
 
Google has become the latest entrant in the digital payment space in India. On Monday, the company announced Tez, a mobile app for payments in India. Google says in less than 24 hours of launch - it has over 500k users and the GMV was close to Rs 2 crores.However, with the ever-growing list of fintech companies such as Paytm, PayU and MobiKwik etc, is the internet giant late to the party? Will it be a game changer in India?       (Read More)

Ezetap, racing against bigger rivals like Paytm, just raised $16 million in fresh funding; TechCrunch
 
There are more than 1 billion cellphone users in India. The country also abruptly went cashless last November, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that millions of high-denomination currency notes would no longer be legal tender.     (Read More)
 
Mobile Wallets Facing Competition From The Website / Card Combination; PaymentWeek
 
While there was a lot made out of mobile payment systems in India following the recent demonetization effort that saw around 80 percent of the country’s currency rendered worthless, it turns out that mobile wasn’t the first stop for many users. Reports note that mobile wallets did see some hefty gains, but the big winner turned out to be the combination of cards and websites.   (Read More)
 
M-Pesa founder shares lessons learned from ten years of mobile money; NFC World
 
M-Pesa pioneer Michael Joseph, founding CEO of Safaricom and now director of mobile money at Vodafone Group, explains how the service works and the lessons learned from building and deploying one of the world’s most successful mobile money services in an in-depth Q&A that is now available to download free of charge from the NFC World Knowledge Centre.    (Read More)

PayPal reports a third of transactions now mobile; Mobile World
 
Mobile now accounts for 34 per cent of all transactions made on PayPal, the company revealed in its Q2 results.   (Read More)
 
Apple Pay’s first large-scale promotion in China intensifies its competition with Alipay and WeChat Pay; Developing Telecoms
 
The size of Apple Pay's share in the mobile payments market in China will depend on how well Apple Pay fits the needs of the local market and how substantial an investment Apple and its partners are prepared to make.    (Read More)
 
Convenience store Cheers opens first unmanned, cashless outlet; Singapore
 
The Cheers outlet at Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) looks like its normal store - with shelves and fridges stocked with food and drinks - except there is no cashier or assistant in sight. The convenience store, fully managed by NYP students, is fitted with at least 10 closed-circuit cameras. Customers use a QR code found on the free "Shop It Yourself" mobile app to gain entry to the store. The doors lock automatically after entry.    (Read More)
 
TransferWise links with Apple Pay globally; REUTERS
 
Financial technology startup TransferWise will allow users around the world to send money internationally through its service using Apple Pay, in a bid to make transfers easier and more secure.    (Read More)

Monese, the mobile current account banking app, expands to Europe; TechCrunch
 
You wait all day for a multi-currency account and three come along at once. Give or take a month or so, that’s appears to be the case with news that Monese, the London fintech that offers a mobile banking app and current account, is adding support for Euro accounts. It follows Revolut and Transferwise‘s recently launched multi-currency offerings, albeit they are targeting a different segment of the banking market.    (Read More)
 
Mastercard Bringing Mobile P2P Payments to Merchants; MobileIDWorld
 
Mastercard is exploring the idea of essentially enabling P2P mobile payments between customers and shop owners. It’s an effort aimed at addressing a longstanding issue for smaller merchants – the lack of resources to accept card payments. Citing data from Worldpay and Expert Market, Mastercard points out in a statement that one in ten small and medium-sized businesses don’t accept such payments, and that one in four consumers in the UK avoid businesses that don’t take cards.  (Read More)
 
Apple makes NFC tag reading available for beta testing; NFC World
 
Members of the general public who sign up for the Apple Beta Software Program can now download a pre-release edition of iOS 11, the latest version of Apple’s operating system for iPhone and iPad which brings with it support for NFC tag reading.      (Read More)

Telegram now lets users buy things from chatbots in its messaging app; TechCrunch
 
Messaging app Telegram has dropped a major update today that sees its service gain support for chatbot payments. It has also added short video messages and new design options for its Instant View reading mode.    (Read More)                                                                              
 
Google announces Payment API, Assistant payments, targeted Android Pay loyalty offers & more; Press Release
 
As part of its Google I/O announcements this week, Google announced its latest new payments features today, including new targeted offers coming to Android Pay, a new Google API that will enable fast checkouts in apps and online, payments with Google Assistant, and more.    (Read More)
 
Alipay, WeChat Pay lead China finance app explosion; Mobile World Live
 
Finance app downloads in China grew by 230 per cent during 2016, according to a new report from analytics company App Annie. Unsurprisingly, m-commerce giants Alipay and WeChat Pay drove growth in the country. App Annie said the two were now on par with each other in terms of engagement, and way ahead of the nearest app from a traditional finance provider.     (Read More)

Orange to launch mobile-only bank with NFC payments and AI; NFC World
 
Mobile network operator Orange is to launch a mobile-only bank in France in July this year that will offer customers NFC mobile payments, P2P mobile transfers using SMS and an artificial intelligence-based virtual assistant that will eventually be able to complete tasks including making transfers and putting funds in savings.   (Read More)
 
Six Dutch banks to take Belgium’s Payconiq to the Netherlands; NFC World
 
Six Dutch banks including ABN Amro, ASN Bank, ING, Rabobank, Regiobank and SNS have announced their intention to launch Payconiq in the Netherlands this summer. Payconiq is a common mobile payment platform that lets customers make P2P payments as well as pay in-store and online and has been successfully piloted and launched in Belgium with support from ING, KBC and Belfius banks.  (Read More)
 
PayPal teams up with Android Pay for mobile payments; TechCrunch
 
PayPal is joining forces with Google’s Android Pay mobile payments platform, the companies announced this morning – an effort aimed at allowing PayPal to expand its footprint both within mobile applications as well as at brick-and-mortar retailers. The partnership will see PayPal becoming available as a payment method in the Android Pay service, which will allow U.S. users to pay for things like Uber as well as at retailers like Walgreens, and restaurants like Dunkin’ Donuts and Subway.   (Read More)

Samsung Pay goes live across India with support for Paytm and UPI money transfers; NFC World
 
Samsung Pay has launched in India with support from Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI Cards and Standard Chartered Bank, with Citibank India support expected “shortly”. The service has also integrated India’s leading mobile wallet Paytm and comes with support for peer-to-peer (P2P) money transfers through the Indian government’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform.  (Read More)
 
Swedish Startup Truecaller Gets Into Mobile Payments in India; Bloomberg
 
Swedish startup Truecaller has become the newest entrant in India’s busy digital payments space, via a tie-up with ICICI Bank Ltd. to offer a local mobile-payments service.  (Read More)
 
Westpac launches payments keyboard for chat apps; NFC World
 
Customers of Australian bank Westpac will soon be able to use an innovative replacement for the default keyboard found in social messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp to make P2P money transfers to friends, family and businesses as well as send cardless cash codes to recipients for ATM withdrawals.  (Read More)          

Russian mobile network MTS launches first phase of Money Wallet payments, transfer and loyalty service; NFC World
 
Russian mobile network operator MTS has launched MTS Money Wallet, an online payments and money transfer service that incorporates loyalty points, offers and discounts, and is to be expanded to transport and in-store payments via NFC, SMS and USSD technologies later this year.  (Read More)
 
Walgreens integrates rewards program into Android Pay; Mobile Commerce Daily
 
Walgreens is continuing to push forward in the mobile commerce space with the integration of its loyalty program with Android Pay, allowing users to seamlessly earn points and pay via mobile in stores.  (Read More)
 
Kenyan banks roll out PesaLink real-time direct P2P mobile payments; NFC World
 
Kenya’s new digital payments platform PesaLink, that will enable consumers to make real-time mobile person-to-person (P2P) payments from US$0.10 up to US$9,650 at any time without having to go through intermediaries, is “expected to cut the cost of transactions and transform the way consumers interact with their banks”, the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) says.  (Read More)
 
IBM links with Indiegogo, Visa, Bosch and more in $3B IoT push; TechCrunch
 
IBM is today taking the wraps off its new Internet of Things headquarters in Munich — a $200 million project at over one year in the making. And to underscore its IoT push, IBM is announcing a series of related deals and partnerships with companies including Indiegogo, Visa, Bosch and French railway SNCF, among others.  (Read More)

PayPal’s mobile payments volume sees 55% increase in 2016; NFC World
 
Mobile payments accounted for a third of PayPal’s overall payment volume during the fourth quarter of 2016, the company’s CEO Dan Schulman has revealed, with the total volume of mobile payments increasing by 55% over the course of last year.  (Read More)
 
27% of all Starbucks transactions last quarter came from mobile pay; Mobile Commerce Daily
 
Starbucks saw a sizable jump in mobile transactions in the first quarter of this financial year, with mobile orders jumping from three percent to seven percent of all transactions.  (Read More)
 
Paytm is paying a price for its sudden stardom; QUARTZ
 
On Nov. 08, Vijay Shekar Sharma found himself intensely in demand. The founder and CEO of Paytm, India’s largest mobile payments startup, was attending an industry event in Mumbai when prime minister Narendra Modi announced the move to demonetise Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes. As soon as Sharma’s session was over, his phone began ringing non-stop: almost every newsroom in the country wanted to know what the 38-year-old entrepreneur thought of the decision, which would suck out 86% of India’s cash in circulation.  (Read More)

Hungary’s national bank to launch instant payments through mobile phone numbers; NFC World
 
A proposal from Hungary’s central bank Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB) for the launch of an instant payments service that will allow consumers to initiate a payment using only the mobile phone number of the recipient, with transactions completed “in a matter of seconds”, has been approved by the country’s Financial Stability Board.       (Read More)

New York City brings smartphone payments to metered parking; TechCrunch
 
The system fulfills Mayor de Blasio’s promise to roll out a smarter metered parking system by year’s end — and with a full week or so to spare. The system goes live to select spots in midtown, between 14th and 59th street, with plans to roll it out to all of the city’s 85,000 Mini-Meter parking spots by the end of next summer. The Department of Transportation will identify participating spots with new signs and decals.       (Read More)
 
London fintech startup Curve brings mobile wallet and all-your-cards-in-one app to Android; TechCrunch
 
The mobile wallet lets you sync your debit and credit cards into a single app and to the accompanying Curve card powered by MasterCard. You then simply select which card you want the Curve cards to act as a conduit for any payments you make offline or online, meaning you only need to carry a single physical card with you.       (Read More)   

How Frequently Do Millennials Transact via Mobile? eMarketer
 
Millennials frequently use their mobile devices to pay for things, but concerns about identity fraud or security may be stopping more from transacting this way. August 2016 research found that though many millennial smartphone users in North America and the UK do transact via mobile—whether every day or a few times per week—there are others that only do so once a month or a few times per year.   (Read More)
 
European Millennials Hungry For (Good) Mobile Payment Technology; Perficient
 
While more than half of the ~4,000 millennials from Germany, Italy, UK, and the Netherlands that took part in the study exhibit deep interest and a strong desire to leverage mobile devices for making payments, the lack of features and benefits today’s technology offers is preventing them from changing their habits. In addition, poor awareness and understanding of the technology currently available contributes to the slow adoption.   (Read More)
 
Android Pay launches in Poland; nfcworld
 
Android Pay has begun rolling out across Poland, allowing consumers with compatible devices to make payments at more than 400,000 retail locations in the country that accept contactless payments. The service launches with support from Mastercard and Visa along with Alior Bank, Bank Zachodni WBK and T-Mobile Banking Services.  (Read More)

Android Pay partners with Visa and Mastercard to bring simple checkout to more places online; Google
 
Today, Google announces strategic partnerships with Visa and Mastercard to bring Android Pay to more places on the mobile web.   (Read More)
 
Mastercard and BMO make Fingerprint and ‘Selfie’ Payment Technology a Reality in North America; Press Release
 
Mastercard announced the North American rollout of Identity Check Mobile™, a new payment technology application that uses biometrics, including fingerprint and facial recognition, to verify a cardholder’s identity and simplify online shopping. BMO Financial Group (BMO) will be the first bank in the U.S. and Canada to offer Identity Check Mobile to its corporate customers starting in the first half of 2017.     (Read More)
 
PayPal’s $100 billion mobile payment milestone makes it eBay divorce winner; diginomica
 
Over a year after its divorce from eBay, PayPal is looking at a significant milestone – over $100 billion mobile payments processed in the coming year. To put that into context, the firm has done $200 billion in volume across the whole of the last ten years.     (Read More)

Mastercard jockeys for mobile payments domination with new API platform; Mobile Commerce Daily
 
In news announced today, Mastercard is introducing a proprietary API program that enables its partners to experiment with new technologies and interfaces, raising the innovation stakes for similar brands across the financial industry.  (Read More)
 
Android, iOS and Market Power – What Does Mobile Platform Competition Really Look Like? Disruptive Cometition Project
 
The European Commission’s competition investigation into Google’s Android mobile operating system (OS) has unsurprisingly raised a lot of attention and commentary. It’s fair to say that so far most comments focused on the ‘abuse part’ of that investigation.  (Read More)

The coming revolution in Indian banking; Product Nation
 
Increasing penetration of smartphones, Aadhaar-linked bank accounts and a host of powerful open and programmable capabilities is set to create the ‘WhatsApp moment’ for Indian banking.  (Read More)
 
Two-thirds of smartphone users now paying by mobile; South China Morning Post
 
Close to two-thirds of smartphone users in China now make regular payments on their devices, according to a new report on internet development in the country.  (Read More)
 
CVS Pharmacy launches its own mobile payments and loyalty solution, CVS Pay; TECHLEAR
 
CVS Health today is launching its own mobile payments solution that will allow customers to pay for products, pick up prescriptions, earn ExtraCare loyalty rewards, as well as pay – just by scanning the barcode in the CVS mobile app. The idea, the company explains, is to eliminate the number of steps it takes today to complete a checkout, which today is a very manual process.   (Read More)

Absa launches Masterpass App for safe, convenient digital payments; Press Release
 
Payments via the Absa Masterpass App currently gives people the power to make online purchases using the digital wallet on their smartphones, without needing to carry their bank cards with them. Absa customers will also soon be able to do in-store shopping using Absa Masterpass, with a variety of merchants presently being signed up.  (Read More)
 
Wallet War: Banks, Stores Slug It Out With Phone-Pay Apps; The Wall Street Journal
 
More banks and merchants are developing mobile-payment products for use in stores, joining the likes of  Apple Inc.  that have dominated the nascent business. The result is a dizzying range of options for shoppers who must decide which method to use if they want to pay with their phones instead of using traditional plastic cards.  (Read More)
 
PBOC Probes China’s Tencent Over Mobile Payments; The Wall Street Journal
 
China’s central bank is looking into a complaint against  Tencent Holdings Ltd.  that alleges the internet giant hasn’t abided by new security regulations required for mobile payments on its messaging platform.  (Read More)        

Chase’s QuickPay takes on PayPal with real-time transfers; Mobile Commerce Daily
 
Chase is boosting the mobile capabilities of its peer-to-peer payment program to gain traction against PayPal and others with new features such as real-time transfers.   (Read More)
 
Apple takes on PayPal with Apple Pay on the web; TechCrunch
 
At WWDC today in San Francisco, Apple finally announced that Apple Pay is coming to the web this fall. Mac users will be able to pay online in Safari using a “Pay with Apple Pay” button, and authenticate their purchase using Touch ID on their phone or watch.    (Read More)
 
Here is the future of Apple Pay; Computer World
 
Apple’s Apple Pay plans reach far beyond what we know today. Apple will expand in multiple directions as it attempts to boost adoption of its service. Apple claims it is adding one million Apple Pay users per week, while Juniper Research says 148 million global consumers will uses contactless services like Apple Pay this year.    (Read More)

Android Pay wants to streamline Web payments and customer signups; ars technica
 
Today at Alphabet's annual developer's conference, the company announced a host of new tools for developers working with Android Pay—including support for Android Instant Apps, a new feature called PaymentRequest, and improvements to the Save To Android Pay API.  (Read More)
 
MCX postpones rollout of Apple Pay rival CurrentC, lays off 30, will focus on bank deals; TechCrunch
 
As merchants like Walmart move ahead on their own mobile payment strategies, a consortium that once counted Walmart — along with a number of other big retailers and brands — behind it, has taken a step back. Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) today announced it would postpone a nationwide rollout of CurrentC, a smartphone payment initiative originally conceived as a mobile wallet rival to smartphone-led services like Apple Pay and Android Pay. As a result, MCX said it would lay off 30 people as it shifted its focus to working with financial institutions.    (Read More)
 
Walmart Pay rolled out across 600 stores in Texas and Arkansas; ZDNet
 
The app allows the retail giant to compete with other mobile payment services like Samsung Pay, but it also gives the chain an edge against brick-and-mortar competitors.    (Read More)

Starbucks rolls out a more personalized mobile app along with a revamped Rewards program; TechCrunch
 
Starbucks this morning announced the overall of its mobile application, now used by 17 million people, in an effort to create a more personalized experience for its customers. The changes rolled out alongside an overhaul of the company’s popular customer loyalty program, Starbucks Rewards, which is now doling out stars based on dollars spent in stores, rather than how often customers make purchases.     (Read More)
 
Starbucks: The Secrets of Success with M-payments; Open Mobile Media
 
Why is the coffee giant seemingly the only one to get mobile payments right? Susan Kuchinskas examines why so many customers use the Starbucks app to get their caffeine fix, and what other companies may divine from the coffee company’s success.   (Read More)
 
Venmo’s secret sauce: PayPal CEO on the future of the fast-growing social payments app; GeekWire
 
On its surface, Venmo is a mobile app used by thousands of users each day to transfer money. But aside from being a convenient way to pay one another, the PayPal-owned company is seeing explosive growth for a completely different reason.      (Read More)

Identity verification startup Jumio files for bankruptcy, will sell assets to early backer Eduardo Saverin; TechCrunch
 
Jumio, the Andreessen Horowitz-funded mobile and online credentials authentication business, whose technology can scan and read information from payment cards and IDs, says that its U.S. business has begun voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, which will allow it to sell its assets. The company is selling its business to early backer and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin.  (Read More)
 
Powa: The start-up that fell to earth; BBC News
 
It was one of Britain's brightest tech start-ups, praised by David Cameron, and a rare British "unicorn" - a company valued at over $1bn (£694m) before floating on a stock market.   (Read More)
 
P2P payments: over 300,000 users for “Jiffy”; Press Release
 
Jiffy, the service developed by SIA to send and receive money in real time via Smartphone, has surpassed 300,000 registered users. The average value of a single transaction is €44 and around 50% of the transfers are for sums under €25.     (Read More)

Mobile Payments Startup Payleven Raises Another $10M; TechCrunch
 
The days of Square clones popping up, everywhere you looked and capitalizing on Square’s conservative approach to global expansion, are long gone. But those startups are not. And today, one of them is announcing a Series D round.   (Read More)
 
Checkouts with Apple Pay; Macdrifter
 
While splurging on a piece of rubber, I was pleasantly surprised by a new method of buying items through a web page. In addition to using the normal options of credit cards or Paypal, Cozy Industries also offers Apple Pay.  (Read More)
 
Is Apple Quietly Assembling an SMB Trojan Horse? STREETFIGHT
 
Mobile payments continue to show promise for the long-elusive holy grail that is marketing attribution. However they’ve erstwhile followed the adoption rate I predicted almost two years ago: slowly.   (Read More) 

InComm's drive to bring open-loop prepaid to mobile wallets; Mobile Payments Today
 
In June, Pew Charitable Trusts estimated that some 23 million adults use general purpose reloadable prepaid cards in the U.S. on a regular basis.  InComm, one of the leading prepaid program providers worldwide, sees an opportunity in that number to entice more consumers — particularly the financially underserved and millennials — to use mobile payments at a time when more contactless terminals are present in U.S. storefronts thanks to the current EMV shift underway nationwide.   (Read More)
 
As More Pay by Smartphone, Banks Scramble to Keep Up; The New York Times
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Ryan Craine hates carrying cash and finds writing checks to be a headache. He doesn’t do much of either anymore — he mostly uses his smartphone to pay for things.   (Read More)

How Apple’s Trojan horse will eat the credit card industry; The Washington Post
 
Apple Pay was launched last year, with lots of fanfare and support by the credit card industry. Partnering with the banks that issue credit cards overcame the resistance that early entrants in mobile payments had faced. It also solved critical technology and infrastructure problems and offered the credit-card industry a new avenue for growth.   (Read More)                                                                                                                                                            
 
Apple, Samsung to Enter China Payments Market With UnionPay; BloombergBusiness
 
Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. reached separate agreements with China UnionPay Co. to introduce their competing mobile payments systems in the country next year.     (Read More)
 
China’s behemoth UnionPay lets smartphone users ring up purchases in two seconds flat; South China Morning Post
 
Imagine standing in a store with no cash or bank cards or even a telecoms signal and just waving a smartphone above a point of sale unit. Seconds later, the payment is done. That is what China UnionPay is promoting.  (Read More)

How Venmo Won In One Of The Most Crowded Spaces In Tech; TechCrunch
 
Seamless peer-to-peer mobile payments have been considered inevitable for quite a while. And for good reason: One experience figuring out the bill at a group dinner party or splitting the cost of a wedding gift and you understand the headache that can be caused by friends dealing with money. Who wants to deal with cash or checks when you can send money in a tap?     (Read More)
 
UnionPay International Launches mPOS Service in Pakistan; Press Release
 
On October 29, UnionPay International and Monet, the largest mPOS (Mobile POS) service provider in Pakistan, jointly announced to launch mPOS acquiring service in Pakistan. Such innovative products will enable the acceptance of UnionPay cards rapidly at local micro-merchants and small businesses, while offering cardholders more convenient and secure purchasing experience. With the launch of this product, Pakistan becomes the first overseas market where UnionPay International enables mPos acceptance.  (Read More)

Samsung Touts Mobile Payment Success; Wall Street Journal

Just in time for its U.S. launch next week, Samsung Electronics Co. said that its new mobile payment service has processed more than $30 million worth of transactions in its first month in South Korea, a level of market adoption that the company said was “beyond our expectations.” (Read More)

Starbucks Mobile Order & Pay Now Available to Customers Nationwide; Press Release

Starbucks Coffee Company announced the nationwide availability of Mobile Order & Pay on iOS and Android devices, a new feature of the popular Starbucks® mobile app that allows customers to place and pay for their order in advance of their visit and pick it up at a participating Starbucks® location.     (Read More)

U.S. Bank and Elavon Bring More Mobile Payment Choices to Customers with Samsung Pay; Press Release

U.S. Bank and Elavon, the global acquiring subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), today announced the availability of Samsung Pay to offer more payment choices and convenience to their customers. (Read More)

Ingenico Said to Join Bidding for Payments Firm Worldpay; Bloomberg

Ingenico Group, a French payments-processing company, has joined the race to buy Worldpay Ltd. ahead of the U.K. rival’s planned initial public offering, according to a person familiar with the matter.   (Read More)

Consumers Believe Nontraditional Providers Will Drive Financial Industry Innovation, Says Research from Raddon Financial Group; Press Release

While nearly half of all U.S. consumers believe nontraditional providers will drive innovation in the financial services industry, only 38 percent said they would consider a nontraditional provider for future financial services needs, according to a survey from Raddon Financial Group, a leading provider of financial industry research and trends data. However, likelihood to use a nontraditional provider such as PayPal, Amazon, Apple or Google broke down sharply along generational lines, with younger consumers much more likely to consider doing so.    (Read More)

Wirecard Said to Join Worldpay Contest With $9.4 Billion Bid; Bloomberg Business

German payments processor Wirecard AG has joined the bidding for U.K. rival Worldpay Ltd., according to people with knowledge of the matter.Wirecard is competing against private-equity bidders, including a joint proposal from Blackstone Group and Hellman & Friedman, as Worldpay also prepares for a possible initial public offering, the people said, asking not to be identified because the process is private.    (Read More)

Google Unveils “Purchases On Google,” Which Are Basically Buy Buttons In Mobile Ads; TechCrunch 

Google today announced a new feature called Purchases on Google, which will make it easier for consumers to buy products directly from mobile search ads. The Wall Street Journal first reported that this was in the works back in May, with Google confirming the broad strokes of the news later that month.  (Read More)

A new east Africa campaign; The Economist

SAFARICOM is among the most innovative firms in the telecoms industry worldwide, and east Africa’s biggest company. Incumbency has now put the Kenya-based mobile-phone operator in the crosshairs of insurgent rivals. The company is at the centre of a corporate battle that is being watched intently by the continent’s business and government elites.  (Read More)

Mozido Expands to Africa with Zimbabwe Mobile Financial Services Offering; Press Release

Mozido, a global provider of trusted digital commerce and payment solutions, has expanded into Africa with its NettCash mobile financial services offering. By acquiring a majority of NettCash, a Zimbabwe mobile wallet company, Mozido has further established its foothold in Africa. The NettCash pre-paid electricity solution is being extended by integrating Mozido’s Mobile Transaction Platform services, including mobile bill pay, stored value account, and person-to-person payment services, to launch Zimbabwe’s first mobile wallet that includes prepaid utility services.  (Read More)

Mobile Phone Boosts Financial Inclusion; paymentsafrika

The agent banking and mobile phone transaction are picking up while pushing up as demonstrated by increase the volume and value of transactions. (Read More)

Apple, Google bet on walletless future, but are shoppers ready to pay with phone? Mercury News

Some pay for deli sandwiches with a flick of their Internet-enabled wristwatches. Osama Bedier waves his phone. (Read More)

One out of four accounts ‘dormant’ as mobile money takes over banking; The East African

Nearly one out of every four bank accounts in East Africa remains inactive as consumers trade traditional banking for the convenience of mobile money services, the findings of two separate studies show. (Read More)

NFC Mobile Payments: An Industry Snapshot; mobey forum 

After years of hype and uncertainty, NFC is finally here. Countries in which plastic card use is the norm have witnessed a recent explosion in the mobile payments ecosystem. The emergence of Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and HCE all indicate that, this time, it’s here to stay.   (Read More)

MTN Mobile Money and Vodafone M-Pesa agree to interconnect Mobile Money Services; Press Release

Customers of MTN Mobile Money and M-Pesa in East Africa will be able to transfer money to each other following an agreement between MTN Group and Vodafone Group to interconnect their mobile money services.   (Read More)

The Year Of Mobile Payments; Techcrunch

Ask most people what the state of mobile payments is today, and they’ll tell you it’s just kicking off. With Facebook announcing the option to send money to friends via Messenger and the release of Apple Pay last year, 2015 has excitedly been dubbed “The Year of Mobile Payments.” Yet what most people don’t realise is that these services are already lagging 10 years behind.   (Read More)

PayPal explains why it’s buying mobile wallet provider Paydiant; NFC World

“What Paydiant has is a clarity of focus on mobile and how large merchants need to utilise mobile to connect with their customers — they’re a small company doing that very successfully with some really cool brands,” Anuj Nayar, senior director of global initiatives at PayPal, has told NFC World as the payment giant prepares to complete its acquisition of the payments platform provider for a reported US$280m.  (Read More)

GlobeOne partners with InvestaBank and Bankaool to bring new mobile banking network to Mexico; Press Release

GlobeOne, a new financial technology company, today announced a partnership with InvestaBank and Bankaool that will bring GlobeOne’s mobile banking solution to Mexico later this year. Through this new partnership, GlobeOne will provide a mobile interface for a suite of financial services offered by InvestaBank and Bankaool in Mexico, bringing bank services to those who are currently underserved by existing financial services.    (Read More)

American Express’ Plenti rewrites loyalty landscape as mobile’s role explodes; Mobile Commerce Today

American Express’ new far-reaching coalition loyalty program featuring brands such as Macy’s and ExxonMobil is a prime example of how mobile is making loyalty bigger and better by making it easier for members to earn rewards from one merchant in real-time and then immediately apply them to a purchase from another.  (Read More)   

Mobile wallets are more marketing channel than payments topic: Forrester

While mobile wallets currently offer significant value to brands, marketers must also look beyond those solutions and focus on mobilizing loyalty platforms to create branded moments and transform payment options into a viable marketing channel, according to a report from Forrester Research. (Read More) 
 
A Playbook for in-Store Mobile Transacting in South Africa; Payments Afrika

“South African consumers are driving a mobile payment revolution enabled by a slew of innovative home grown technology companies. Local retailers, brands and agencies are leveraging the power of mobile payments in clever ways to unlock new revenue streams and boost customer retention.” So says Bevan Ducasse, CEO of wiGroup, following the release of the company’s white paper on in-store mobile transacting. (Read More) 

Visa Showcases Connected Commerce at Mobile World Congress 2015; Press Release

FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 10, 2015-- “Everywhere you want to be” is taking on new meaning for Visa as the global transition from plastic to digital payments accelerates, driven in large part by mobile connectivity. At Mobile World Congress next month (March 2-5, Hall 6, stand D40) in Barcelona, Spain, Visa will unveil its latest mobile payment services and demonstrate how a world connected by commerce – far beyond just phones and tablets – is transforming the way people shop, pay and get paid. (Read More)  

Amazon’s challenge to PayPal in mobile-enabled online payments gains steam; Mobile Commerce Daily

Amazon saw more than 25 percent of Login and Pay with Amazon payments come from mobile devices in 2014, underscoring the power of streamlined checkout processes on mobile as well as the online retailer’s growing role in driving mobile commerce across the Web. (Read More) 

Nigeria’s First Bank Partners Etisalat to Extend Mobile Money Services; Payments Africa

Major Nigerian commercial bank First Bank has announced a partnership with telecoms company Etisalat to make Firstmonie mobile money services available on Etisalat’s Easywallet SIM application. (Read More)               

Apple Pay’s growth increases pressure on retailers to jump on board; Mobile Commerce Daily

Apple Pay continues to add more partners, including a number of new banks, which will drive perceived value for consumers and encourage more banks as well as retailers to jump on board. (Read More)

Japan Lagging Behind in the Adoption of Mobile Payments Technology; paymentweek

Despite being one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, Japan has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to digital payments and services. (Read More)

Taking One Touch™ Mobile Payments International; Braintree Blog

In September, we announced the general availability of One Touch™ mobile payments with PayPal in the U.S., the industry’s first and only single touch payment experience across Android and iOS. Today, in an effort to help people and businesses connect more seamlessly, reduce friction from buying on mobile and support innovation globally, we’re rolling out One Touch with PayPal in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK. We’re starting the rollout in these markets, while working quickly to bring One Touch to our tens of thousands of customers across the more than 40 countries we serve globally. (Read More)

Four Months After Acquisition, Square Launches iOS App For Food Delivery Service Caviar: TechCrunch

Over the summer, Square purchased food delivery startup Caviar. Today, it’s making ordering on the service even easier with the launch of a mobile app. (Read More)

Apple Pay from the Front Lines; Gonzo Banker

It’s been a good three weeks since the new iPhone 6 arrived in the mail. It was a bittersweet moment as I had regretfully given up my iPhone 4S, primarily out of the geeky obsession that it was rumored to be the last product in which Steve Jobs was able to oversee development from start to finish. (Read More)    

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