Near-Field Communication (NFC)

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews As mobile wallets rapidly evolve, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. late Tuesday put out a birthday card of sorts reminding the world that its Samsung Pay service is now a year old in the United States. In that time, Samsung Pay has added payment-card issuing partners, but the …

• The total value of contactless transactions worldwide will reach nearly $500 billion next year, up fully 56% from an estimated $321 billion in 2016, according to Juniper Research. • Samsung Electronics America Inc. said more than 500,000 replacement Galaxy Note7 phablets have arrived in the U.S. and will be available …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews Nearly three-quarters of mobile-phone owners have made some sort of payment with their devices, but in-app, bill, and person-to-person payments all exceed in-store payments, according to new findings from First Annapolis Consulting Inc. The Annapolis, Md.-based consulting and research firm says 74% of mobile-phone-using consumers reported in …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews Mobile wallets eventually will get the contactless terminals and other infrastructure they need to attract consumers, according to an executive with Alphabet Inc.’s Android Pay. Their ultimate success, however, will depend on the value they offer merchants and consumers. “It’s still all about value creation,” Jack Connors, …

• Merchant processor Global Payments Inc. said it will provide a Bluetooth reader capable of EMV and contactless mobile payments to Mary Kay Cosmetics Ltd. consultants in Canada. The reader works with Apple and Android smart phones and tablets. • Global payments platform Payza has integrated Canada’s Interac debit network, …

By Kevin Woodward@DTPaymentNews Mobile payments continue to garner merchant interest as more retailers are accepting mobile wallets, research shows. Meanwhile, drug-store chain Walgreens is making its loyalty program available to users of Android Pay. Thirty-four percent of small businesses accept mobile payments like Apple Pay and Android Pay, finds the …

• Fast-food restaurant chain Chick-fil-A Inc. says it will begin accepting Apple Pay and Android Pay Friday at the point of sale inside its stores and in drive-through lanes. Chick-fil-A announced in February it would accept Apple Pay along with its own Quick Response bar code-based mobile-payment service. • Wal-Mart …

A streamlined approval for contactless mobile-payment devices announced Wednesday by chip card standards body EMVCo could help mobile-payments boosters realize their elusive dream that the coming of chip cards to the U.S. also will lift smart-phone-based payments. The new approval process is meant to confirm that mobile devices enabled for …

By Kevin Woodward@DTPaymentNews UnionPay International’s QuickPass mobile-payments service made its North American debut with acceptance initiated in Canada, the company, a unit of China UnionPay, announced Tuesday. Consumers can use their UnionPay QuickPass cards, equipped with a contactless chip, or a card loaded into a mobile wallet, at contactless payment …

Slowly but surely, the big merchants that make up the stalled Merchant Customer Exchange LLC retailer consortium are finding their own way in mobile payments. The latest example is MCX stalwart CVS Health Corp., which on Thursday announced the launch of its CVS Pay mobile wallet. The Woonsocket, R.I.-based chain …