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New York City's whole subway system gets WiFi in 2016
Forget having to remember which New York City subway stations have WiFi -- by the end of this year, you won't have to pick and choose. State governor Andrew Cuomo has promised that every underground station will get WiFi by the end of the year, guaranteeing at least some kind of internet access while you're waiting for your train. Complete cellular service will come slightly later, with end-to-end access ready by early 2017. Either is heartening news if you regularly commute underground, since Transit Wireless (which is handling the service) had previously targeted late 2017 for full WiFi service.
MasterCard and Coin bring payments to your fitness band
Right now, you don't have many choices for paying for things from your wrist: there's the Apple Watch, the Microsoft Band (at Starbucks) and not much else. MasterCard and Coin don't think you should have to suffer from this lack of choice, though. They're teaming up to bring credit card payments to all kinds of wearable devices, including fitness trackers and a wider variety of smartwatches. Coin will supply the necessary hardware and software, while MasterCard will unsurprisingly handle the service side of things.
Target is reportedly working on its own mobile payments, too
Walmart isn't the only major retailer developing its own mobile wallet. Reuters reports that Target is in the early stagings of planning its own payments system as well. While the company hasn't committed to launching just yet, it has reached out to credit card companies regarding how transactions will be handled. If you'll recall, Target is part of the CurrentC mobile wallet initiative, and plans to remain a member (alongside Walmart) of the Merchants Customer Exchange that's developing the software. The company says it's just exploring its options.
Use Android Pay to handle your in-app purchases
Android Pay has been handling mobile payments for the Google faithful since September, and now it's ready to lend a hand inside apps. Starting today, you can use Mountain View's payments system to complete in-app purchases. Instead of having to pull out your wallet and manually enter card info, you can now easily tap the Android Pay button and confirm your details for quick transactions. The new addition gives Google's payments system a feature iOS users already had with Apple Pay.
Samsung Pay stores your gift cards, lets you buy new ones
Samsung Pay was already handy for using the company's line of Galaxy phones to take care of mobile payments via credit and debit cards. Making good on its promise ahead of the holidays, Samsung added the ability for you to use those gift cards you're sure to receive in the weeks to come. Similar to the bank and credit card methods that Samsung Pay already employs, the app will allow you to load those gift cards to keep your pockets free of extra clutter on your next shopping trip.
Walmart wants you to pay through its mobile app
Never mind Android Pay and Apple Pay -- Walmart would rather you use its own mobile payment service. It's launching Walmart Pay (how creative!), a payment system that has you scanning QR codes within its app to make purchases. It's not the most elegant method as a result, but the upshot is an approach that works on most phones, in any checkout lane, with any major payment card you have. And despite what it looks like, Walmart swears that this isn't meant to muscle out other mobile payment services -- they could be integrated "in the future."
Samsung Pay won't arrive on the Gear S2 until next year
If you were hoping to pay for a few Christmas presents with your new Samsung Gear S2, you'll have to wait until next year. After pledging to deliver Samsung Pay to its latest smart watch in November, the company now says the mobile payments won't arrive on the NFC-equipped wearable until 2016. News of the delay comes from the US Samsung Mobile Twitter account in response to a customer looking for more information.
Swatch's payments watch is coming to the US
Swatch has announced that the mobile payments watch that it's sending to China will also make its way over here. The watchmaker has teamed up with Visa in order to offer the Swatch Bellamy in the US, Brazil and Switzerland. It's the third entry on that list that's the most eyebrow-raising, since Swatch CEO Nick Hayek very recently criticized his home nation's own banks for being slow to embrace new payments tech. It looks as if Visa has stepped in to make its relations in Switzerland look fusty and slow by comparison.
Google will give $1 for special ed every time you use Android Pay
After Android Pay's slow rollout throughout the US, it's finally available to everyone -- well, those with a compatible device anyway. In the spirit of giving (or trying to get more people using the service), Google has teamed up with DonorsChoose.org to support special needs children in US schools. Through December 31st, Google will donate $1 for every purchase made through Android Pay, with a total of up to $1 million. The idea is to create an interactive classroom environment so kids who struggle to engage aren't left out. What's more, Android Pay will double its donations for every purchase made on Black Friday. As if you needed another reason to spend big on the most insane shopping day of the year.[Image credit: AOL]
Apple Pay will launch in China early next year, says WSJ
Apple's latest iPhones have been a raging success in China, so the lack of Apple Pay in the nation has been a sore point. That's about to change soon, however, as Apple will bring Pay to China by early February 2016, according to the WSJ. Its sources say it has made deals with the company's four state banks, meaning most consumers will be able to pay at stores with an NFC-equipped iPhone 6 or 6s model. The deal is reportedly now just awaiting regulatory approval, and Apple is hoping to launch it before February 8th when China's spring holidays begin.
Square's new reader arrives to accept mobile payments and chip cards
We've known about Square's new NFC-friendly reader for a while, and now the point-of-sale gadget is available for use. Starting today, 100 merchants in "select cities" (quite a few, actually) will begin accepting NFC-driven payments like Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay and those newfangled chip credit/debit cards. The reader is a square pad (of course) separate from the company's usual POS setups and sliding readers, allowing you to hover your phone or insert a card to complete purchase. The unit is wireless and pairs with either a countertop system or Square's free mobile app to handle the transactions. However, the new reader itself will set businesses back $49 in order to get started. For the initial rollout, look for the device at businesses in the following cities: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Miami, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Seattle, St. Louis Tampa, and Washington, D.C.
Samsung Pay gets support for cards from Chase bank
Today, Samsung's making good on a promise recently made to people in the US. The company has announced that its mobile payments system, Samsung Pay, now works with Visa debit and credit cards from Chase bank. Last month, Samsung also said the app would be adding support for gift cards from "top" retailers in entertainment, dining, grocery and fashion, but this feature hasn't officially launched yet. Nevertheless, this shows Samsung is serious about expanding Pay and that, most importantly, it's getting the backing it needs from banks, retailers as well as carriers.
LG throws its hat into the crowded mobile payment game
You might not be terribly excited about mobile payments, but there's a reason why there are so many out there, including Apple Pay, Android Pay and, yep, Samsung Pay. All of those companies get a cut of every user purchase, which can add up to a lot of much-needed extra revenue. So it's not terribly surprising that LG has launched a mobile payment system of its own called (wait for it) LG Pay. The company didn't provide a lot of details, other than saying it will only be available in Korea for now. However, LG promised TechCrunch it would reveal more in the "coming weeks," so it may have plans to launch the service in other markets later on.
Apple Pay goes live in Canada, but only for American Express customers
Apple Pay has been available in locales outside of the US already, and now our neighbors to the north are getting in on the action. Cupertino's mobile payments tech is now available in Canada, so iPhone and Apple Watch users can pay for goods with those two devices at a smattering of retail locations. There is a catch, though: Apple Pay in the land of poutine only supports American Express right now. If you have one of those cards in your physical wallet, you'll now be able to add it to the Wallet app on your iPhone in iOS 9.1 for use at places like McDonald's and Tim Hortons (mmm, doughnuts). Bank-issued AmEx cards won't work right now either, just the ones issued directly from the credit card company. This means that most debit cards and bank-issued credit cards won't be compatible as a lot of Canadian banks use Visa or MasterCard. As was the case in the States and other countries, we'd surmise you can expect the list of participating banks and cards to expand in the weeks to come. [Image credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Amazon will ditch its daily local deals on December 18 (update: Register too)
If you're the sort of person who really likes getting $50 of seafood for $25, your day just got a little more depressing. Amazon just announced that it would stop selling those sorts of daily deals from both its AmazonLocal site and its corresponding app on December 18th. Don't worry if you've loaded already up your calendar with days-long real estate courses and cheap car washes — any vouchers you already have, or buy before the deadline, will remain valid. Update: That's not all for the local services pullback, as Amazon also revealed it's shutting down the Local Register app that competed with the likes of Square and PayPal to process payments for small businesses. As of the 30th it is no longer accepting new customers, and the service will fully shut down on February 1st.
Apple Pay comes to Australia and Canada this year
At last, Apple Pay will be available outside of the US and the UK... if you have the right credit card. Tim Cook used his company's fiscal results call to confirm that the tap-to-pay service will be available in Australia and Canada by the end of 2015, while Hong Kong, Singapore and Spain will get it in early 2016. However, it sounds as if you'll be limited to using an American Express card at first. Despite leaks, you probably won't be using any other account for iPhone-based purchases on launch. It's likely that other providers will get with the program, though, so don't despair if you prefer MasterCard or Visa.
Chase hopes you'll use its shopping app instead of Apple Pay
You might think that the future of phone-based shopping belongs to tap-to-pay services like Apple Pay and Android Pay. However, Chase begs to differ. The banking giant has unveiled Chase Pay, a mobile app that uses your credit, debit or prepaid card to make purchases through CurrentC. And yes, that means what you think it does... both good and bad. It'll let you take advantage of loyalty programs and even pay by scanning some receipts, but you'll also have to make many payments by scanning QR codes. As it stands, you'll have to be patient -- Chase Pay won't be available until mid-2016.
MasterCard aims to bring mobile payments to every gadget
MasterCard is envisioning a future of ubiquitous payments, where practically every device has the ability to pay for things at contactless terminals. The credit card company unveiled a new program today with precisely that goal, and it has also lined up a bunch of early partners, including GM and wearable companies Nymi and Ringly. It also looks like MasterCard isn't just looking at typical gadgets -- it even wants payments in things like fashion accessories (designer Adam Selman is another launch partner). It's not hard to see why MasterCard is making this push. Seamless payments are convenient for customers, but it's also essential for MasterCard to gain a foothold in the post-credit card era. And smaller companies will likely need some help if they want to integrate payments (Jawbone, for example, teamed up with American Express for the Up4).
Samsung Pay is now available on all major US carriers
Samsung has opened the floodgates to its mobile payment solution in the US. The company announced today that Samsung Pay now works with all major US carriers: AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, US Cellular and, despite some drama, Verizon. In order to take advantage of this feature, which is Samsung's answer to Apple Pay, you'll of course need to have a compatible smartphone -- like the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+ or Galaxy Note 5. Samsung Pay first became available Stateside in beta on September 28th, but as of today anyone on one of the big networks can start using it. To do so, download the app from Google Play, enter your debit/credit card information and you'll be set.
Square bets big on payments as it becomes a public company
It's a big week for Jack Dorsey in more ways than one. The new Twitter CEO's other company, the payment service Square, has filed for an initial public stock offering that's tentatively worth up to $275 million. It's not certain just when shares will be available. However, the move shows a belief that Square's hopes of reinventing the purchasing process (through everything from readers to food delivery) have legs. As it stands, investments might be necessary in the short term. While Square's bottom line is improving, it continues to lose money -- $77.6 million just in the first half of this year. Going public gives the firm more breathing room, and may sharpen its focus. After all, it's about to have the expectations of many, many people riding on its shoulders.
