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You can spend up to £30 using contactless payments from September
Contactless cards have been available in the UK for a number of years now, but it's fair to say that it's not yet become the defacto method of payment. Part of the reason is due to the £20 ceiling placed on such purchases, ruling it out when paying for a weekly supermarket shop or a romantic meal for two, but with widespread support across London's bus and underground routes, more people are starting to get on board. In fact, the UK Cards Association has confirmed that spending without a PIN trebled last year as UK payments reached a record £2.32 billion.
Google Wallet update purportedly leaks plans for a real-world card, transfers and transit passes
Google Wallet hasn't had much uptake in the real world. When most of its use has revolved around one carrier, few payment points and even fewer phones, most of us have had to sit on the sidelines. If an Android Police source really did come across a leaked future build of Google Wallet as he claims, though, we may know how Google surmounts that problem: going old school with a real-world card. Screenshots in the app supposedly show a mail-in option for plastic that could completely replace credit and debit cards without turning to NFC. Any charges after a typical swipe of the magnetic strip would simply go to whatever payment source is set as Wallet's default, letting minimalists slim down their actual wallets while sharing in the same discounts as their phone-wielding counterparts. Digital-only purists would still get something out of the deal, as the update could also bring person-to-person money transfers and support for mass transit cards. How soon the as yet unconfirmed app would appear is still a mystery, but it dovetails with Google teasing a Wallet revamp that's rumored to take mobile use beyond its Android-only roots; we just didn't anticipate that the company might bypass our phones altogether.
Google Wallet to phase out prepaid card, cut-off date set for October 17th
Google Wallet's prepaid card concept has been plagued with its share of security concerns, and though Mountain View seems to have sorted out those issues, it's now phasing out the prepaid card program entirely. The service was intended to make up for a limited choice in debit and credit cards, and now that Google Wallet accepts any and all plastic, the prepaid option is a bit moot. The cut-off date for adding funds to a Google prepaid card is September 17th, and the prepaid option will vanish entirely on October 17th. Whereas users were previously charged $2.00 per month after 180 days without a transaction, they'll get slapped with the same fee after 30 days of no purchases. Google says you can request a refund if you have a remaining balance after the prepaid option kicks the bucket, though it's probably a good idea to just go ahead and spend those leftover dollars. [Thanks, Chris]
iCache Geode claims title of first shipping iPhone e-wallet, asks 'who needs NFC?'
Apple has been sending mixed signals as to whether or not it will bring NFC to the iPhone for mobile payments, but iCache clearly isn't waiting for the technology to show its face -- the company just started shipping its Geode e-wallet. As we saw just a few weeks ago, the Geode simply rolls existing credit and debit cards into a proxy GeoCard that's scanned at the store to handle transactions. Although it demands a specially-made case with an e-paper screen and fingerprint reader, not to mention an app to manage the attached cards, the choice lets an iPhone owner buy goods at all the usual places instead of having to hunt down special terminals. We like the one-card universe it creates, although it's clear the shopper has to carry a lot of the responsibility for making this digital payment dream a reality: at $200 a pop, the Geode's wallet-slimming effect carries a premium, especially since it won't work with anything besides an iPhone 4 or 4S.
EnStream to bring mobile wallet to Canadians, make loonies obsolete (video)
A joint venture of Canadian carriers Rogers, Bell and Telus called EnStream is in final talks with the country's leading banks (likely CIBC, TD, RBC, Scotiabank and BMO) to bring a mobile wallet solution to the Great White North within six months. The system, which was demoed at the CWTA Wireless Showcase last September, enables mobile payments by storing a user's financial credentials on the SIM located inside their NFC-capable phone. It aims to replace credit and debit cards at first -- perhaps even driver's licenses and loyalty programs down the road. Carriers plan to charge banks a flat rate instead of a per-transaction fee. According to Almis Ledas, EnStream's COO, "banking machines will become the payphones of the future". While we command this attempt to standardize mobile payments in Canada, the time frame seems rather optimistic in light of the slow progress AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon have made with Isis in the US so far. Different countries, different rules of course -- still, we think it's going to take quite a while to make loonies obsolete. Maybe this is the perfect window of opportunity for Google Wallet and Square to jump across the border, eh? Time will tell. Check out EnStream's mobile wallet in action on video after the break.
Japanese biometric ATM reads your palm, tells fortune
A palm reading cash machine might not tell you your fortune, but it will, at least, dispense some of it. Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank in Japan has revealed that it will introduce the nation's first ATM that lets you withdraw money just by scanning your palm. This isn't the first ATM to use extra human verification, but it claims it's the first that functions without the need for your cash card. Customers will need to pop in to a branch to provide some manual verification -- and of course a palm scan -- then you're away. The bank hopes this will help people access their cash in the event of losing your card, or a natural disaster. Great until you upgrade to one of these.
Cambridge University finds credit card security flaw, uses the money for beer pong supplies (video)
Oh, those crazy kids at Cambridge University -- when not doing keg stands or playing Hacky Sack in the quad they're hard at work proving the vulnerability of the EMV verification used in credit and debit cards (or as it's called across the pond, Chip and PIN). We won't go into too much detail (because we don't have much detail) but a flaw has been discovered that allows one to convince the terminal that a card's PIN has been entered -- and you know what that means: free money! All you really need to pull it off is a fake smart card connected to a card reader containing the stolen card and some fancy software. (Place the contraption inside a hat box or bowling ball bag if you want to be slick.) What could be simpler than that? "We think this is one of the biggest flaws that we've uncovered - that has ever been uncovered - against payment systems, and I've been in this business for 25 years," said Professor Ross Anderson from the school's Computer Laboratory. Sure, this is a proof-of-concept thing, and not yet a clear and present danger, but we have faith that the hackers will see this one through. Maybe we weren't crazy to bury all that gold in the backyard after all! British TV news (with the appropriate dramatic music) after the break.
