Near-Field Communication (NFC)

U.S. third-party developers soon will have new capabilities to access the secure element piece of Apple Inc.’s iPhone when iOS 18.1 eventually is released, a move that could herald further app development and cement Apple’s position among mobile-wallet providers. Apple, without fanfare, revealed this long-desired access Thursday in a simple …

Hospitality point-of-sale maker Toast Inc. said it now serves 120,000 merchant locations as of the end of the second quarter, a 29% increase from the same period a year ago. Its gross payment volume jumped 26% year-over-year to $40.5 billion. Toast posted second quarter revenue of $1.24 billion, a 27% increase from …

As bakery chain Paris Baguette refreshes its rewards program and its mobile app, its online-ordering process has also been updated with help from Olo Inc. In related news, Elo Touch Solutions Inc. releases a 22-inch contactless payment-enabled device. Moonachie, N.J.-based Paris Baguette, which has 160 U.S. locations, according to its …

Point-of-sale technology company MagTek Inc. has lined up payments provider ExpiTrans as a reseller of its QwickPAY POS software. Meanwhile, Visa Inc. says its technology is ready for the start of the summer Olympics in Paris in two weeks. Seal Beach, Calif.-based MagTek says ExpiTrans will market its software to …

Under pressure from the European Commission, Apple Inc. agreed Thursday to open the contactless-payment technology in its iPhone for payments on wallets from outside developers. The agreement follows two years of investigation by the regulator, which has argued the exclusion of rival wallets from using the iPhone’s near-field communication chip …

U.S. servicemembers who use the Military Star credit card will see a change in September as the closed-loop network it uses migrates to the Discover Global Network. The Exchange Credit Program issues the Military Star card, which is administered by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, and has approximately …

Payments provider Payzli said it now offers services from the Visa Acceptance Platform, including Tap to Phone and contactless payments. Swipesum, a merchant-services company, and Visa Inc.’s Authorize.net unit said they will support payments for 4aGoodCause, an online donation service. Relay Payments Inc. said 22 Onvo travel plazas will use its payments services that …

Raptor Technologies, a provider of software to schools, announced it has acquired PayK12, a platform for online payments and event ticketing for schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. Terms were not announced. Payments-technology provider SpotOn said it has joined the U.S. Foods Check Business Tools program, which provides technology and services to …

Contactless transactions were supercharged by the pandemic, and now slightly more than half of U.S. cardholders are using the technology when they pay with either cards or wallets, according to Mastercard Inc. research. With that kind of momentum behind them, researchers are looking at ways to expand near-field communication technology, …

Contactless payments are forecasted to surge 113% in value by 2029, reaching $15.7 trillion by 2029, up from $7.4 trillion this year, predicts a new report from Juniper Research. Ticketing and soft point-of-sale applications will be significant drivers of this growth, United Kingdom-based Juniper says. “As access becomes more widespread, …