digital wallet
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WhatsApp begins offering Novi money transfers to some users in the US
A limited number of people in the US will be able to send each other Novi payments from within WhatsApp.
Facebook Pay buttons are coming to online stores in August
Facebook is bringing support for its payments platform to online retailers starting in August.
The EU plans a digital wallet for payments, passwords and IDs
The European Union is getting ready to unveil a digital wallet that will allow citizens in the bloc to store payments details and passwords.
Opera's new online shopping cashback service is built directly into its browser
Opera's fully integrated cashback service works with partner shopping sites including Nike and Asos.
Samsung's Pay Card will be a 'true digital wallet' for its UK phone owners
Samsung Pay Card will act like a digital wallet.
Uber will pay drivers and couriers after every trip
Uber is making a bigger push into payments and financial services by setting up a division called Uber Money. Among the initiatives Uber has in store is paying its more than 4 million drivers and couriers after each ride. It plans to do so through its no-fee mobile bank account, which it's integrating into the Uber Driver app.
Facebook releases Zuckerberg’s upcoming testimony in defense of Libra
Tomorrow, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will appear before the Financial Services Committee, where he's expected to be grilled about Facebook's planned cryptocurrency Libra and digital wallet Calibra. Ahead of tomorrow's inquisition, Facebook has shared Zuckerberg's prepared statement. In it, Zuckerberg admits that Facebook is "not the ideal messenger right now" and promises that Facebook will not move forward with Libra anywhere in the world until US regulators approve.
Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency loses backing from PayPal
A few days after the Wall Street Journal suggested that some companies announced as initial backers for Facebook's cyptocurrency were reconsidering support, PayPal has announced it will end its participation in the Libra Association. Founding members invest $10 million to fund the association, and as CNBC notes, it's unclear what happens to that money if participants pull out of the agreement. PayPal: PayPal has made the decision to forgo further participation in the Libra Association at this time and to continue to focus on advancing our existing mission and business priorities as we strive to democratize access to financial services for underserved populations. We remain supportive of Libra's aspirations and look forward to continued dialogue on ways to work together in the future. Facebook has been a longstanding and valued strategic partner to PayPal, and we will continue to partner with and support Facebook in various capacities. There's no word from other high-profile backers like Mastercard and Visa, while Facebook exec -- and former president of PayPal -- David Marcus previously tweeted that the "official 1st wave of Libra Association members will be formalized in the weeks to come." Meanwhile, lawmakers are pressing for CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify about the matter. We'll see who remains a backer -- the initial list of 28 names can be seen below -- by then. Mastercard, PayPal, PayU (Naspers' fintech arm), Stripe, Visa, Booking Holdings, eBay, Facebook/Calibra, Farfetch, Lyft, Mercado Pago, Spotify AB, Uber Technologies, Inc., Iliad, Vodafone Group, Anchorage, Bison Trails, Coinbase, Inc., Xapo Holdings Limited, Andreessen Horowitz, Breakthrough Initiatives, Ribbit Capital, Thrive Capital, Union Square Ventures, Creative Destruction Lab, Kiva,Mercy Corps, Women's World Banking.
Visa Checkout to shut down in 2020
Visa is completely rehauling its online payment system to add more security. 9to5 Google reports today that Visa Checkout, a competitor to Paypal which integrated with the Google Pay digital wallet, is shutting down in 2020. The move isn't an entire surprise. Earlier this year, Visa and all the major credit card companies -- Mastercard, American Express and Discover -- announced they would unite and launch their own checkout button. It was discovered earlier this week that Google Pay no longer lists Visa Checkout.
iCache Geode digital wallet hands-on (video)
The iCache Geode was easily the most impressive use of technology that we saw during CTIA 2012. It's the epitome of how a fantastic tech idea can be translated to real-world use in a very classy and clever way. At its heart it is extremely simple: take all your existing credit, debit and loyalty cards, save them in a secure way and be able to use any of them without actually having the original cards handy. The system is comprised of a housing for the iPhone coupled with an app, an E Ink display on the rear, a fingerprint scanner, the GeoCard, and a magnetic stripe reader that is capable of quickly reading in your card details and saving them. Using the Geode is a two-step process -- scan all your cards into the device with an included scanner attachment, then using the iPhone app select your method of payment and the GeoCard in the housing is instantly programmed. Pop the card out, tap it on a solid surface to activate it and spend your money. Loyalty cards are equally easy to use: select one of them in the app and its barcode is written to the E Ink display on the Geode's rear surface. Of course iCache has considered the security implications and has addressed them in a few different ways. The iPhone doesn't store any of your card details as they're kept in the housing itself. On launch the app does a hardware check to be sure nothing's been tampered with, asks for a fingerprint scan and the card programming only lasts for a user-defined period of time after you've tapped it on the table. Click on through for a video demo of the whole ride.
MasterCard introduces PayPass Wallet Services, Online and API at CTIA 2012
MasterCard's PayPass is certainly one of the bigger players in the contactless payment scene. But, simply putting a few thousand branded payment terminals in stores across the nation isn't enough. The next step is expanding that empire, not only in terms of locations and handsets, but by turning the phone into just an accessory in a larger ecosystem. PayPass Wallet Services is a new umbrella product that includes an online payment system, a branded service and an API that allows developers to integrate PayPass into their own proprietary offerings. Simply put, PayPass is no longer a product, but a platform. The service remembers not only credit cards, but shipping addresses and other identifying info that streamlines the shopping process, while the API means that others can build value added offerings around PayPass. There's even a dedicated Android app. The company is hoping to have the system ready for a broad roll out by the third quarter of the year. When that time comes, a pile of partners have pledged to support it in various ways. The names on that list should ring at least a few bells: Intel, Barnes & Noble, Newegg, MLB and American Airlines. It all seems pretty impressive (though, we'll reserve judgement till we get to try it out). Your move, Google. Zachary Lutz contributed to this report
PayPal's Digital Wallet lets you decide how you empty yours (video)
PayPal has been helping us pay for those impulse purchases for a long time, but now its forthcoming Digital Wallet could see it popping up on our bank statements a whole lot more. Speaking with eBay Ink, PayPal's Sam Shrauger gave a quick demo of some of the new features. As well as the regular payment handling, you'll be able to register gift vouchers, coupons, loyalty points and store credit cards all under one account. This sounds tidy, but more interesting is the ability to change how you pay for something (say, from credit to debit card) up to seven days after the fact. If you want to keep those big purchases on the Amex, that's no problem either, with configurable rules letting you assign different cards to different spending situations, including setting your own custom payment plans. It's not all about buying either, with savings also getting the digital treatment, that's if you haven't doled it all out on gadget rarities. The service is expected to land in May, in the meantime see the new features via the videos after the break.
Visa aims at developing countries with new international prepaid mobile payment service
Shortly after announcing its new digital wallet service V.me for developed markets, Visa also made a presence at Mobile Asia Congress in Hong Kong to promote its new prepaid mobile money platform aimed at the under-banked and the unbanked consumers. By utilizing its recently-acquired Fundamo (which currently has more than 10 million mobile payment subscribers), Visa aims to leverage on the vast number of mobile phone users in developing countries -- many of whom are already using local but carrier-bound mobile payment systems -- in order to offer a globally interoperable mobile payment network. This overlaying platform is said to be more secure, much cheaper and more convenient than the likes of Western Union, especially when you can simply make mobile-to-mobile payments when sending money across countries. Nigeria and Uganda will be the first nations to get a taste of this early next year courtesy of telecommunications provider MTN Group, and eventually more developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America will join the list. Full press release after the break. %Gallery-139688%
Visa dubs upcoming digital wallet service 'V.me,' looks to differentiate product line
You may be using a Visa digital wallet next year, even if the brand name says otherwise (my Visa account was hacked twice in the past 18 months to procure vast amounts of premium shampoo and Xbox Live account add-ons, so maybe it's a good thing). Recently, the company announced that it will be using the name V.me to distinguish its upcoming digital wallet from its other services. The service, which is expected to launch in early 2012 following a private beta period, will allow customers to fund the account via their Visa card, a MasterCard account or their bank account. Taking a lead from competitors such as PayPal, Amazon.com and American Express, customers will be able to log in through a user name and password as opposed to keying in their 16-digit account number each time. A PayPal-esque send and receive money feature is also in the works, allowing for users to shoot money to each other on the fly. The company has also stated that it will be developing mobile-friendly applications for shopping from a smartphone or a tablet, the apps eventually allowing people to pay using near-field technology. And if someone can buy $500 worth of premium shampoo on an innocent man's card just by pointing their smartphone on it, that's technology in action.
GAME introduces centralized digital payment system for MMOs
UK's largest video games retailer, the appropriately named GAME, is taking a crack at the ever-widening digital market. The retailer introduced a new feature for players looking to purchase content online called GAMEwallet, with plans to offer gift cards for the system in 2012. By giving players incentive to focus on just one account that can be used to fund multiple MMOs and other games, GAME is hoping that GAMEwallet will become the one-stop shopping center for gamers. Several MMO studios are on board with the program, with titles like RuneScape and APB Reloaded fundable through it. GAME is targeting a majority of its customers who don't use debit and credit cards to buy digital content because of security concerns. GAME's Tricia Brennan sees move as not just a smart one, but a necessary one: "The digital games market is growing fast, but two things are holding it back: the reliance on customers using credit or debit cards online, and the lack of a one-stop shop offering advice across a wide range of titles from different publishers. We're about to change that." GAME is currently struggling financially, as it recently announced losses of over $81 million from sales.
Visa gets Bank of America on board for mobile payments trial, starting in New York next month
It didn't take long for Visa to react to the three-headed beast of AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon entering the mobile payments arena. The world's foremost payment processing company has just announced that it's about to start a trial of its contactless payment system in partnership with Bank of America. Kicking off in the New York area this September and lasting through the end of the year, the scheme will most likely involve the MicroSD NFC communicator and In2Pay iPhone case that DeviceFidelity has been developing for Visa. No disclosures are being made on the size of this pilot scheme, though we're told that only a "select" group of employees and customers will be getting the mobile payment chips. Don't worry if you miss out on this one, though, as a similar trial is scheduled to begin in October with US Bancorp. That should give you enough time to turn yourself into a high-rolling select customer, right?
Japan to push its whiz-bang handsets overseas
With Japanese handset sales declining pretty much across the board (thanks, lower subsidies!), it follows logic that the government and Japanese-based handset makers would look internationally to pick up the slack. In a rather vague report, we're told that the nation is hoping to push its technologically advanced mobiles in other countries, though it'll have a tough time marketing mobile TV without sufficient infrastructure. One of the token handsets chosen to lead the parade is a Sony-made "wallet phone," which is only described as having cashless technology built in. Color us (very) mildly enthused.
