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Wearing headphones at a concert isn’t as weird as I thought it would be
One of the worst concerts I've ever attended in my life -- in terms of pure sound quality -- was at Barclays Center. I get that arena shows are never going to be known for their top-notch acoustics, but the concrete cavern that the Brooklyn Nets call home is particularly bad. It's why I chose it as the venue to see Elton John and test out Peex Live, a service that promises to deliver an ideal music experience no matter how bad your seats (or sound engineer) are. There's a catch though: You have to wear headphones at a concert. That's about the most unintuitive thing I've ever heard of.
Barclays customers can now ask Siri to make payments for them
In today's edition of companies making it all too easy for us to spend money, Barclays has added a feature to its iOS app that will debit your account after hearing you utter but a few words. Or, less sinisterly put, Barclays' mobile banking app now lets you make payments with Siri commands. Provided you've granted Apple's assistant access to your account in the app, you can transfer money to any previously known payee, or anyone in your iPhone's contact list. And you needn't worry about that annoying friend saying "Hey Siri, pay Jamie £15 with Barclays," as you still need to tap your finger to the Touch ID sensor to confirm the transfer.
Barclaycard’s ‘Grab+Go’ swaps store checkouts for an app
With nigh-immediate grocery deliveries becoming more and more accessible, there's less incentive to pop down to your local shop to pick up the essentials. But Barclaycard is working on a way to make the in-store experience more convenient by allowing customers to dodge the checkout queue and pay for their basket with their smartphone. The "Grab+Go" app basically turns your device's camera into a barcode reader. When you're done combing the isles and scanning your haul, you simply checkout inside the app and your purchases are charged to a linked card. It then generates a digital receipt that the merchant also has access to, in case they suspect your bag is hiding a few undocumented items.
Barclays' new ATMs let you withdraw money with your phone
Contactless technology is, we're told, destined to replace physical currency. In the meantime, you'll soon be able to use your phone to withdraw cash from an ATM -- if you're with Barclays that is. The banking giant announced today that it's in the process of rolling out new in-branch cash machines that will let you withdraw up to £100 with your smartphone or contactless card.
Barclays helps put bPay contactless chips in phone cases
Alongside its bPay wearables and key fob, Barclays (or more specifically, Barclaycard) brings contactless payments to other things by way of a simple NFC sticker. This looks most at home stuck to the back of a smartphone, but now the bank has partnered with cover merchant Case Station for some slightly more elegant, albeit bulkier solutions. After teaming up with a clothing brand on a jacket with a contactless chip hidden in the cuff, Barclays' new ally is now offering a range of protective, fully personalised cases with built-in bPay for popular phones from the likes of Apple, Samsung and LG.
Barclays swaps passwords for voice IDs for telephone banking
Just as fingerprint sensors have made smartphones more useful and secure, voice-authentication tech is making the dreaded call to customer services that bit more convenient. Following TalkTalk and fellow bank HSBC's example, Barclays has also introduced voice identification to its telephone banking service in the UK. No stranger to biometrics, Barclays has been trialing voice recognition among a subset of customers for several years, only now making it available to anyone with a personal account.
Barclays' bPay Loop turns regular watches into contactless cards
At this point, Barclays now plays nice with Apple Pay and last month, formally shunned Android Pay in favour of its own app for the platform. In addition, the bank has a range of devices that put contactless payments on your wrist, keychain and anything portable that'll welcome a sticker. Between all this and the dapper jacket the tech is built into, you'd think Barclays would have contactless covered. But today the bank is adding another member to the bPay family called the Loop: A contactless chip in a small silicon suit that's designed to make wristwatches and wearables like fitness trackers contactless-ready.
Barclays launches its answer to Android Pay
Ever since Barclays publicly shunned Android Pay in favour of its own NFC payment platform, the bank has kept pretty quiet over when you can use its Contactless Mobile service. But today, and without much fanfare, Barclays announced that Android users with a supported phone can now make NFC payments with the Barclays Mobile Banking app. It supports payments up to £100 and works everywhere a standard contactless card can be used.
Barclays offers its own app as an Android Pay alternative
When Barclays confirmed it wasn't planning to support Google's Android Pay service when it launches in the UK, it said it would instead focus on the development of its own platform. Turns out that customers won't have to wait long to see what the bank has planned, after it confirmed today that it will roll out a new version of its banking app with support for "Contactless Mobile" in June.
Barclays finally rolls out Apple Pay support
If you're a Barclays customer and you've been waiting since last year for the bank to support Apple Pay, we have some good news. The company announced today that the NFC payment technology has been enabled on Barclays and Barclaycard accounts, allowing customers to pay using their iPhone, Apple Watch and iPad at more than 400,000 contactless points around the UK.
Barclays isn't planning to support Android Pay in the UK
If UK bank Barclays hadn't angered mobile customers enough over its delayed rollout of Apple Pay, a new announcement today looks take things up a notch. After Google declared that it will bring rival payment service Android Pay to the UK in the coming months, Barclays has gone on record to say it has no plans to support the platform. In a statement sent to Techradar, the company said: "At this stage we are not planning on participating in Android Pay in the UK."
Barclays' 'MakerSpaces' offer 3D printing to local businesses
The worlds of banking and technology intersect at many points, but you'd hardly consider 3D printing a shared interest. In Barclays' "MakerSpaces," though, it's common ground. Equipped with 3D printers, laser cutters, tools and technicians, Barclays has begun setting up these maker-friendly zones in vacant branch and office spaces. The bank is making their facilities available to local businesses (customers and non-customers alike) for rapid prototyping and such, with community events, corporate days, school trips and training sessions filling blank spaces in the calendar.
Barclays confirms it'll support Apple Pay by April
Since it came to Britain in July 2015, Apple Pay has made slow and steady progress, with 15 banks or credit card issuers now supporting the service. However, in that time, Barclays has done nothing but flip-flop over its decision to link its cards with Apple's NFC payment platform. After first declining to comment at launch, the bank quickly changed its mind and voiced support for the service. It then made customers wait months before offering an "early 2016" launch date at the end of last year. Following another few months of silence and hundreds of irate customer tweets, Barclays CEO Ashok Vaswani has finally offered to clear things up, confirming that Apple Pay support will roll out by April at the very latest.
Barclaycard brings NFC payments to its Android app
Android Pay still isn't available in the UK, so Barclays has decided to fill the void with it own NFC-enabled contactless payments. The new functionality is part of the Barclaycard app, specifically for credit card customers with a supported Android handset. Once everything is set up, you'll be able to make purchases up to £30 "with just a touch" and, in some stores, buy goods up to £100 by jamming in your PIN code too. Barclays has long championed its own mobile payments technology. The company's bPay platform, which can be linked to most major credit or debit cards, is now available in wristbands, key fobs, stickers and even a Lyle & Scott jacket. Furthermore, the bank is one of the few in the UK that still doesn't support Apple Pay -- an omission that continues to frustrate iPhone and Apple Watch owners. Barclays says support will arrive "very early in the New Year," although a firm release date remains elusive.
Barclays won't enable Apple Pay support until early 2016
When Apple Pay launched in the UK back in July, Barclays was a notable absentee. It didn't take long for the bank to change course, however, as it took only a couple of hours for it to confirm that it would enable support for the NFC payment technology in the future. In the months that have passed, the bank hasn't offered any clues as to when it will launch -- until today. Disgruntled customer Mike Jobson took it upon himself to email the CEO of Barclays Retail Banking, Ashok Vaswani, to ask how long the wait might be. Vaswani swiftly replied, confirming that the bank would enable Apple Pay functionality "very early in the New Year."
Barclaycard to launch NFC payments on Android ahead of Apple Pay
Since Apple Pay launched in the UK, several banks have been dragging their heels when it comes to supporting the contactless payment platform. Lloyds and Halifax begun a gradual roll-out just last week, casting renewed shade on Barclays, which appears to be more interested in its bPay gear (and jacket) than throwing iPhone and Apple Watch users a bone. The banking giant said some time ago it'll eventually play nice with Apple Pay, but it's decided in the interim to turn its attention to Android users. Its credit card arm, Barclaycard, announced today that from November, its Android app will begin supporting NFC payments. These payments won't be limited to the (recently raised) £30 contactless cap, too, with transactions of up to £100 allowed with PIN authentication (similar to Apple Pay).
Barclays helps put contactless payments in a £150 jacket
Want a stylish way to make contactless payments in the UK, but can't afford an Apple Watch? Scottish knitwear brand Lyle & Scott has developed a jacket with Barclays' bPay technology in the cuff. For £150, you'll get a snazzy coat and the ability to make payments (now up to £30) by waving your hand over supported readers. Barclays has been pushing mobile payments for some time, but its latest hardware isn't particularly fashionable. There's a sticker you can slap on your phone, a key fob or a black wristband that offers only one of the benefits associated with fully featured wearables. With Lyle & Scott's "Contactless Jacket," however, the chip is always out of sight -- the downside being, of course, that you always have to wear it to make a payment. If you're smitten with the idea of garment-based payments, but don't like Lyle & Scott's sense of fashion, you could always sew a bPay sticker into your existing outwear. Sure beats shelling out £150 for a new jacket..
Barclaycard steps up its contactless game with three new NFC devices
If you didn't know, Britain now prefers cashless payments to notes and coins. Contactless cards play a big part in the shift away from cash, but as technology evolves, smartphones and wearables are beginning to influence matters too. Barclaycard has long supported contactless technology, via its PayTag NFC sticker or bPay bracelet, but the credit card provider recently pulled the products and warned that something new was coming. Indeed, Barclaycard is back with three "new" wearable bPay payment devices: a wristband, fob and sticker.
Apple Pay to launch in the UK in July
Apple's take on mobile payments has been available in the US for the better part of a year, but here in the UK, we've been left with the faint hope that it'll one day arrive. Rumors suggested it could be announced at WWDC 2015, and it turns out they were correct: Apple Pay will come to this side of the Atlantic next month. Most of the big-name banks are on board, with Lloyds, Halifax, Natwest, HSBC and Santander all supporting Apple Pay, but Barclays is a notable omission. Apple says that the service will be available in 250,000 locations, including Lidl, McDonald's, Nando's and the Post Office, covering more retailers at launch than were originally available in the US. For commuters and tourists, Transport for London has confirmed it will also support the NFC technology inside its barriers, allowing you to travel on the Tube and the city's buses without the need for a wallet.
London's 'Boris bikes' get an app for paying and planning rides
Using one of London's "Boris bikes" isn't as simple as, say, taking the Underground or catching a bus. You have to find a docking station with an available bike, work out your journey time and how much you'll be charged, and then find another drop-off point that's close to your destination and not already full. To make the process a little simpler, Santander and Transport for London (TfL) are launching an app for iOS and Android. You can use it to find your nearest docking station, check how many bikes are available and pay for your next ride. Once you've selected a 24-hour or annual pass, a unique release code will be sent to your phone, which can then be used to unlock a two-wheeler.
