What are the benefits of QR code enrollment?

IT can enroll devices into MDM using a QR code, which is a more attainable option as support expands. Discover the benefits of this process, including improved workflow and ease of use.
  
Device enrollment is a sticking point for IT pros, especially those who work in larger organizations with a lot of devices. A QR code scan is not considered an automated device enrollment method, but it's still a simple way to achieve effective enrollment to a mobile device management (MDM) server. And as support from device manufacturers broadens, QR code enrollment is becoming a more viable method for IT admins.

Avery Dennison Provides RFID System for Food Management

As the food supply chain evolves, the need for technology to help suppliers and grocers manage inventory has increased. Avery Dennison has been providing intelligence in the supply chain with item-level RFID, as well as offering on-demand labeling to drive food safety and freshness, through a solution known as Freshmarx. The company is now driving the adoption of RFID to automate data capture as food is prepared, packaged, stored, transported and sold to customers. The technology is intended to address the demands of the modern food market, such as allowing omnichannel management and traceability of waste and food donations.

Mobile payments now account for 6% of all UK card transactions

The percentage of payments made with a mobile phone in UK stores has jumped from 1.3% in Q3 2016 to 5.6% in Q3 2018, an analysis of 190m card transactions has shown. Compared to this time last year, the volume of contactless mobile payments has increased by 60%. For payments under the £30 contactless payments limit, the number of transactions accounted for by mobile payments increased from 1.8% in Q3 2016, to 4.6% in Q3 2017 and then 7% in Q3 2018, the analysis by Cardlytics found.

Walmart equips staff in 3,000+ stores with mobile POS devices

Walmart is expanding its Check Out with Me service to all its 3,000+ Supercenters across the US “just in time for the holidays”. The move follows a successful rollout of mobile POS devices at the retailer’s US garden centres earlier this year. “Check Out with Me is expanding to every Supercenter by Black Friday,” the retailer says. “Walmart is positioning associates in the busiest areas of its stores, like the garden center, electronics or in action alley, so customers can bypass regular checkout lines and pay for everything right in the department they are shopping. (Photo: Mike Mozart).

Hong Kong is adding QR code payments to its subway stations

A new dispatch from our “QR Codes Are Very Much Alive In Asia” reporting program: Hong Kong’s subway system will soon allow its commuters to pay by scanning QR codes thanks to a deal with Alibaba that was announced this week. The partnership — which is with Alibaba’s Ant Financial  affiliate — will see scan-to-pay enabled at 91 MTR metro stations starting in mid-2020. Commuters will simply use Ant’s Alipay app to scan a code at the turnstile and then go on with their trip as usual. They’ll be able to top up their balance inside the app, as well as through traditional methods.

MEMS 2.0: IoT Pressure Sensors

Mems air pressure sensors are accurate enough to be used in a variety of applications. One way to use them would be to measure your bike tire pressure and have them send a notification if the pressure gets to low. Another use case—this time for farmers—is to spread mems air pressure sensors through a field in combination with humidity and temperature sensors. This sensor suite could be used to gather weather data that a higher order machine learning algorithm could leverage to predict local weather with extreme accuracy. Weather analysis has many applications beyond farming too. For example, weather influences air and sea travel. Knowing when extreme weather will happen can allow for preventive care of infrastructure.

Amazon reportedly wants its digital wallet in brick-and-mortar stores

Amazon wants its Amazon Pay digital wallet to be accepted in brick-and-mortar stores, and it's offering merchants incentives in order to make that happen, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to sources familiar with the matter, the company is currently focusing on gas stations, restaurants and other merchants that wouldn't see Amazon as a business rival, offering them lower payment-processing fees and marketing services to get them on board. If successful, Amazon would be able to expand its Pay service beyond online transactions, which it's primarily used for now.

Siemens introduces Simatic RF615R RFID reader

Siemens is extending its range of Simatic RF600 ultra-high frequency (UHF) devices to include an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) reader. The Simatic RF615R comes with a design of 133 x 155 x 45 millimeters, an internal, circularly polarized antenna and an additional external antenna connection. Using the connection for the additional external antenna, it is possible to set up a small-scale RFID gate. The device supports OPC UA as an IoT (Internet of Things) interface and communicates via the OPC UA AutoID Companion Specification V1.0 data model.

New wireless system from MIT uses RFID to sense potential food contamination

Researchers at MIT Media Lab, US, have developed a wireless system that leverages the cheap Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags already on hundreds of billions of products to sense potential food contamination –  with no hardware modifications needed. With the simple, scalable system, the researchers hope to bring food-safety detection to the general public. The researchers’ system, called RFIQ (Radio Frequency IQ), includes a reader that senses minute changes in wireless signals emitted from RFID tags when the signals interact with food. For this study, the team focused on baby formula and alcohol, but in the future, consumers might have their own reader and software to conduct food-safety sensing before buying virtually any product.

Lowe on track with RFID tracking

Lowe Rental first introduced smart barcodes and RFID (radio frequency identification) in 2016, deploying the technology at its headquarters in Lisburn, Northern Ireland and its operations in England, Scotland and Germany over the last two years. The system, supplied by UK company CoreRFID, will now be rolled introduced in its US depots in Las Vegas, Nevada and Fairburn, near Atlanta, Georgia. Lowe is also working with CoreRFID to extend the system to its distribution warehouses in Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai and Dubai.

Italian Company Creates Wearable RFID Tracking Technology

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology systems were initially touted as the go-to for pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) waste and recycling collection programs. More and more, the technology also is being used to track containers and verify service. Asset tags typically are attached to waste and recycling containers and data is collected when the bins are full, alerting haulers to deploy a vehicle to empty the bins. A Lainate (Milan), Italy-based company is adding a new twist to RFID technology in the waste and recycling industry with its Discovery Mobile device. Partitalia srl, a smartcard and RFID tag manufacturer, has created this wearable device to track waste collection.

PLUS is starting its own RFID Public Pilot Test

RFID is a new way to pay for highway tolls and this will eventually replace the current SmartTAG. Apart from Touch ‘n Go, PLUS, the concessionaire for the Malaysian North-South Expressway is also kicking off its own RFID Public Pilot test in Penang and Kedah. According to their website, PLUS RFID uses an open payment system unlike Touch ‘n Go’s RFID that uses an eWallet. This means you can link your PLUS RFID to your bank account or preferred debit or credit card. As a result, you won’t have to worry about topping up a separate wallet as the toll charges will be deducted directly from your preferred mode of payment.

UnionPay rolls out mobile payment services in South Asia

Sri Lanka has become a new market where UnionPay is rolling out its mobile payment service. After the launch of UnionPay QuickPass service in the country this August, UnionPay QR code payment service will be accepted soon. Today, UnionPay International (UPI) announced its collaboration with Cargills Group, the largest Retail & FMCG group in Sri Lanka: the two parties have agreed to roll out UnionPay QR code payment service across the country commencing in the first half of next year, through the Cargills ecosystem, including supermarkets, restaurants and cinemas, and equip Cargills' e-wallet with UnionPay QR code payment function through the digital issuance of UnionPay cards, bringing UnionPay QR code payment service to local customers.

In line with global changes in consumers' payment habits, UnionPay has developed a portfolio of mobile payment products including the "UnionPay" mobile application, QR code payment service, NFC mobile payment, and In-app payment. UPI is accelerating the roll out of these mobile payment services outside mainland China, expanding the acceptance of these services to 42 countries and regions—driving up the volume of cross-border transactions made through the "UnionPay" app grew by 150%. To date, UnionPay mobile QuickPass service is accepted at 2 million POS terminals across over 30 countries and regions outside mainland China, and UnionPay QR code payment is accepted at about 60,000 merchants in 23 countries and regions outside the Chinese Mainland.

China is the largest trading partner and the second largest tourist source of Sri Lanka. To date, UnionPay is accepted at the majority of merchants and ATM terminals in tourist-oriented cities like Colombo, Kandy, Galle and Matale, and about 2,000 merchants such as restaurants, department stores, supermarkets support UnionPay mobile QuickPass too. The partnership between UPI and Cargills Group will realize the acceptance of UnionPay QR code payment at local retailers and daily consumption merchants, and will provide mobile payment offers for local customers to further enhance their payment experience.

Civic authority brings RFID to monitor waste collection

Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) has introduced QR code Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag for improving door-to-door waste collection monitoring system and to address shortcomings such as sanitation staff skipping houses. According to the VMC officials, Vijayawada generates as many as 550 MT of municipal solid waste (MSD) per day from 59 divisions of the city. The VMC officials have distributed coloured bins to residents for segregating the waste; several residents and shopkeepers have been complaining about vehicles not turning up to collect waste in time. To overcome this, the civic body has proposed to fit a QR code RFID to every house to alert the collection squads and vehicles and inform them about the bins, which are uncleared.

Deutsche Bank unveils loyalty-first mobile wallet venture

Deutsche Bank is launching the Yunar app on November 6, 2018. Starting with a basic version as a free digital platform offering, it will make loyalty schemes easy to use. By adding other banking and non-banking services Yunar is intended to gradually become the mobile wallet in the customer’s pocket. Yunar will therefore be continually upgraded with new functions and products, taking into account what customers want and how they use the app from day to day.

The start-up behind the Yunar brand is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bank, with its own management, its own IT and an initial staff of around 80 people. The new company does not require a banking balance sheet, as is the case with many fintechs. Subject to the approval of the relevant regulatory authorities, it will hold a so-called ZAG licence – authorising it to provide payment services. It aims to accelerate the launch of digital innovations which go beyond the traditional banking business. In Germany Deutsche Bank’s Private & Commercial Bank has 20 million clients, of whom more than 10 million use the bank’s products and services via PC, tablet and smartphone.

Yunar is part of the Private & Commercial Bank’s new “Digital Ventures” unit, where the offerings for new client groups and markets will be bundled in future. One of its tasks is to rapidly develop the bank’s digital platform.

On the launch of Yunar, Markus Pertlwieser, Chief Digital Officer (CDO) of Deutsche Bank’s Private & Commercial Bank and Head of the Digital Ventures business, said: “This app will give a further boost to the expansion of our platform offering. Fresh ideas that make life easier for banking clients will be implemented faster in future, regardless of whether we act on our own or together with partners.”

The Yunar brand name is derived from “yuna”, the Celtic word for desire. At the same time, Yunar is also an allusion to the phrase “you know”. The brand name is thus intended to emphasise that Yunar knows what customers want and fulfils these desires.

The basic version of Yunar will enable users to manage their customer loyalty cards on their mobile phone. The app allows users to collect points for up to 200 loyalty schemes that are widely used in Germany, including Payback, DeutschlandCard, BahnBonus, Miles & More, Ikea, Douglas and Karstadt. For some of the schemes, the app will also be able to show previously collected points, which means users will no longer need to use their physical loyalty cards. Yunar will therefore satisfy the key criteria of the platform economy from the very beginning: It is free, available everywhere and relevant to users’ daily lives. Banking services such as mobile payments or multibank aggregation or even non-banking services such as digital identification may be added, ultimately making it a mobile wallet. This would be the first time that customers have one-stop access to all services related to their loyalty schemes, payments and bank account. If in future all the data from popular loyalty schemes were to be linked to the user’s payment information, this would make the offering unique. Yunar could then suggest which loyalty schemes the user should consider or also provide advice on how points that have been collected could be used.

By starting with loyalty schemes the new app can tap straight into a market with millions of potential users. Three-quarters of the German population are members of a loyalty scheme, while the majority of them (73 percent) have cards from more than three loyalty schemes. Markus Steiff, member of the Management Board of Yunar, said: “With Yunar we are truly relevant for customers in their daily lives. We are helping them to save money easily and conveniently and to be able to afford more. Yunar is smart, simple and convenient for users and a cornerstone of the bank’s platform business model.”

Pentagon spending Big on RFID tech

The U.S. military ships a lot of stuff around the globe—including ammunition, computer hardware, vehicles and other supplies—and the Pentagon is increasingly turning to radio-frequency identification to track its assets. Last month, the Pentagon exercised a final-year option on its RFID contract, which has a total ceiling value of $102 million. Around the same time, the Virginia-based contractor operating the contract, Savi, announced two major orders totaling 48,000 active RFID tags to unnamed Defense agencies.

L’Oréal releases wearable UV exposure tracker with NFC

Measuring your personal UV light exposure hasn’t historically been easy, as UV sensors aren’t built into typical wearables, smartphones, or other items people tend to carry around outside. That’s about to change thanks to L’Oréal, which today announced availability of My Skin Track UV — a wearable accessory that gathers personal UV exposure data to share with Android phones and iPhones, notably without requiring either Bluetooth or a battery. With its components inside a circular, shirt button-sized housing, My Skin Track UV will typically be clipped to a shirt in a position where it can measure both UVA and UVB rays.

RFID stickers could signal contaminated food

If a food item isn’t safe to eat, it’s best to find that out before someone eats it. But manual testing of every jar and bottle isn’t possible, even when a threat, like the recent baby food scare, is known. MIT  researchers have found a way to check many items instantly, non-invasively and from a distance — using the RFID tags many products already have.

Swiss banks face mobile payments boycott investigation

Switzerland’s competition watchdog has raided the offices of financial companies, including Credit Suisse and UBS, to investigate a suspected boycott of mobile payment solutions such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. The competition authority said it was investigating whether the banks, including state-owned PostFinance, colluded with local payments providers not to use the mobile payment systems of the big tech companies. UBS acknowledged the investigation and said it had tried to reach an agreement with Apple Pay over use of the Swiss bank’s credit cards as early as 2016, but had not managed to come to an understanding with the company.

A QR Code, Step By Step

Have you ever wondered how QR codes work? There are plenty of dry technical guides out there, but if they’re not your thing you might find Nayuki’s step-by-step guide to be of interest. It explains the encoding and error checking bit generation process before starting on the familiar three-squares pattern and timing bars of the QR code itself. The really interesting part comes with its explanation of overlays, a set of repeating patterns that are added to the final data segment, and how the pattern used is chosen to minimise penalties due to large blocks of the same colour in the final piece. The chances are most of us will never have to create a QR code from scratch, but it is this type of fascinating technical general knowledge that makes guides like this such an interesting read.

Veterans charity uses contactless cards to collect donations via NFC

The Royal British Legion is distributing contactless cards at charity events in the UK which participants can scan with an NFC phone to be automatically directed to a website where they can make a donation using either Paypal or a bank card. The cards, which are passed around at specially organised fundraising pub quizzes, also carry a QR code so that users without NFC can scan them. Each quiz has its own web page, where a live total of the amount raised at that event can be seen. The contactless cards and underlying platform have been supplied by Norwich-based Thyngs, a startup specialising in mobile engagement and headed by NFC marketing veteran Neil Garner.

NFC based Self-Testing of Embedded Systems

Today most of the mobile phones have NFC interface, which can be used to communicate with Active tags to the information exchange with a user. Electronics are everywhere now. The electronics based systems usage has exploded exponentially and has entered all aspects of our life whether it is automotive, white goods, entertainment, wearables and what not! This has happened due to the large integration of electronic devices to make very complex and computational intensive micro-controllers and SOCs (systems on chip). Today consumer whitegoods and electronic designs are getting complex day by day which is bringing the focus of designers to ease of usage and troubleshooting.

Where is the military’s stuff? Check the RFID info

The Department of Defense has exercised a multi-million dollar contract option with defense logistics company Savi Systems to help improve visibility on the whereabouts of nearly 24,000 high-value military assets. With massive volumes of material on the move – arms and munitions, supplies, vehicles – keeping track of it all presents a significant challenge for the DoD. To meet this challenge, the Defense Systems Logistics Agency made Savi their sole contractor for their radio-frequency identification (RFID) contract in 2014. Savi announced Oct. 30 the Pentagon would exercise its second and final option year on the RFID contract, which has a ceiling of $102 million.

Biometric card reference design expedites smart card design

Infineon Technologies and NEXT Biometrics have partnered to develop a reference design for biometric payment cards, incorporating all necessary elements to develop and manufacture a smart card with a fingerprint sensor. The design helps card makers simplify their production processes and shorten time-to-market for their offerings.

The use of biometrics for second factor authentication is the next big thing in payment card innovation following signatures, embossing, magnetic stripe and secure chip technologies. Instead of entering a PIN or showing an ID, the card holder authenticates by using a fingerprint sensor embedded on the card. The fingerprint information is stored on the card’s secure element and not shared with any third party, thereby protecting the user’s privacy. Fingerprint authentication is faster and easier than standard PIN-based EMV transactions. It will also further reduce fraud, especially when multifunctional cards are deployed for personal social security payments.

The biometric card reference design includes a biometric module, a secure element, an operating system with biometric and payment applets, as well as a recommended and proven pre-lamination and lamination method for manufacturing the card. This complete system solution enables secure biometric smart card payment with significantly reduced false rejection rates to below one percent. The false rejection rate is a convenience feature that measures how often the fingerprint of the authorized user is reliably recognized and not incorrectly rejected.

Target equips staff with mobile POS terminals

US discount store giant Target is equipping staff across its 1,800+ shops with mobile POS terminals “that’ll let you skip those Black Friday lines.” The new handheld devices will let Target team members “help you checkout from anywhere in the store,” the retailer says. “We know many of our guests look forward to our Black Friday deals every year, and today, they can start shopping and save big on some of the hottest items of the season,” says Mark Tritton, Target’s chief merchandising officer. (Photo: Mike Mozart).

The RFID Market: Potential Opportunities Within an $11 Billion

IDTechEx Research finds that the RFID industry will be a business worth $11 Billion in 2018. Of that, passive RFID tags make up $5.01 Billion and RFID readers $2.85 Billion. The numbers of units sold and their average sales price (ASP) vary across the range of choices. In 2018, IDTechEx expect that 11.5 billion RAIN RFID labels (RFID operating at ~900MHz) will be sold, versus 4.0 billion HF devices (RFID operating at 13.56MHz). The sales of ICs are higher in the year since it takes time to convert ICs to tags and we account for stockpiling. The near-term forecast from IDTechEx Research is shown below, with consistent growth in tag numbers, offset slightly by reducing tag ASP.

7-Eleven pilots mobile self-checkout in 14 US stores

Convenience store giant 7-Eleven is piloting a mobile self-checkout service in 14 stores in the Dallas area, just two months after it began accepting contactless and mobile payments across its 8,000+ US stores. To use the service, customers need to download the 7-Eleven mobile app and join the retailer’s 7Rewards loyalty program. The Scan & Pay self-checkout feature then automatically appears as an option within the app when a shopper is within the vicinity of one of the geo-fenced pilot stores.

Simple hack turns RFID tag into battery-free Internet of Things device

While smart devices are proliferating in the industrial and domestic environments, concerns remain that they will not be sustainable unless their need for batteries and/or charging is removed. Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, are claiming a major advance in this area through making simple modifications to a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, a battery-free device used to make objects machine-readable for the location and identification, and which are increasingly ubiquitous in common objects. RFID tags consist of printed metal antennas in squiggly shapes that are connected to a tiny chip. At a recent conference in New Delhi, Omid Abari, Ju Wang and Prof Srinrivasan Keshav from Waterloo’s Cheriton School of Computer Science explained how they gave the tag the ability to sense this environment.

How AI Will Transform IoT Architecture

Futurists say artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) will transform business and society more profoundly than the industrial and digital revolutions combined, and we’re now starting to see how that world might shape up. Yet even as the future unfolds before our eyes, what few are talking about is how AI-driven IoT actually gets implemented in an effective and profitable way. One critical factor – if not the critical factor – is where the intelligence actually resides and how that influences IoT architecture. Many organizations believe the rightful place for AI is in the cloud, since that’s where they are moving their data and IT computing power. But a key requirement for functional IoT is interoperable connections between the various sensors at the edge to a gateway and bi-directionally from the cloud - which then poses the problem of latency.

Stora Enso introduces sustainable RFID tag technology

Stora Enso has launched, sustainable RFID tag technology designed for intelligent packaging functionalities in supply chain, retail and e-commerce applications. Eco by Stora Enso is said to enable paper-based RFID tags, providing a plastic-free and recyclable option for packaging authentication. Eco RFID tags can be produced on a 100 percent fibre-based paper label, unlike traditional plastic tags, resulting in a lower carbon footprint for sustainability conscious B2B and B2C companies, said the company. Eco is a product of Stora Enso’s Intelligent Packaging division, which develops and delivers RFID technology to allow the packaged product to be automatically tracked, traced and tamper-proofed throughout the entire supply chain.

Why QR codes, Bluetooth, and RFID still aren’t dead

Take QR codes. Just a few years ago, Quick Response codes were an industry laughing stock. The humor came from the fact that it was often easier to type in a URL than to line up your smartphone camera to read those little black and white matrix barcodes. Plus, there was the challenge of trying to make them work in ads and marketing materials without being a distraction. After most of us had written off QR codes, Snapchat gave them a boost of cool by launching QR-based Snapcodes, which make it easier for people to follow you on Snapchat. Lo and behold, at Advertising Week earlier this month, it felt like 2011 again as everyone was rocking QR codes. Amazon, Google, and Instagram have all contracted QR Fever. QR codes are showing up everywhere from the meat aisle of the supermarket to the stock exchange. And this is good news to users: They’re easier to read now, and rather than inevitably leading to another brand promotion, they often provide helpful information such as where your food comes from.

Delhi: Scan QR code to pay water, power bills

New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), in collaboration with SignCatch and Axis Bank, has launched a "first-of-its kind" in-home "smart bill pay" initiative. It has developed "smiley fridge magnets" for the digital payment of utility bills, which will be distributed to its electricity and water consumers. "These innovative magnets will be personalised, and each consumer will have a unique QR Code mapped to their consumer account (CA) number. There will be separate magnets for both electricity and water bills. The consumers can stick these magnets on their refrigerator and scan the QR Code to make payments," said NDMC chairman Naresh Kumar.

Whisky brand connects consumers with casks via NFC

Mackmyra Swedish Whisky, an award-winning distiller of single-malt whisky based in Sweden, is using NFC mobile marketing to connect directly with consumers via smartphone, raise awareness of its Private Cask program, and launch social media-driven campaigns that promote its most popular products.

Mackmyra’s initial deployment, launching this quarter, uses NFC tags from Thin Film Electronics ASA to build digital provenance information into Mackmyra’s Private Cask offering, which allows consumers to create and bottle their own unique whisky. Each individual bottle originating from the Private Cask will link back to detailed information about that specific cask—all through the touch of a smartphone.

Metro Pacific to hike use of RFID payments to avoid delays in tollways

METRO Pacific Tollways Corp. (Philippines) aims to increase the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on the expressways it operates to help curb delays along toll plazas usually caused by long payment time when using cash. Rodrigo E. Franco, the company’s president, said his group aims to hit the 50-percent mark in electronic toll collections technology usage in the next three years, a feat that will help the company take on its projected increase in traffic along its expressways.

UK gov begs Apple to unlock NFC for passport-scanning Brexit app

Citizens the 27 remaining EU countries are being invited to register their interest in remaining in the UK with a simple smartphone app. One problem: it doesn't work on Apple devices. The app allows users to apply for "settled status" with three simple questions, a selfie, and a scan of the NFC chip on their EU passport. The problem is that Apple being Apple has kept its NFC technology locked down.

Schreiner ProTech introduces globally usable RFID label for metal applications

Schreiner ProTech, a Germany-based producer of functional labels for engineering-based industries, has launched its ((rfid))-DistaFerr Global Label, which has an integrated, dual-band antenna capable of reading both of the world’s most prominent frequency bands: ETSI and FCC. The newest launch from Schreiner ProTech’s ‘RFID on Metal’ range, the label ensures reliable RFID readability on all metallic substrates in relevant markets worldwide.

Share Tweet Link Comment IDEX receives initial order for dual-interface smart card sensors from XH Smart Tech

IDEX Biometrics announced it has partnered with XH Smart Tech to drive commercialization of biometric cards and that it has received an initial order for its dual-interface sensor by XH Smart Tech to begin integration. Headquartered in China, XH Smart Tech is ranked among the top five Chinese smart card vendors by international market share and has shipped more than three billion smart cards. The company has passed China UnionPay, VISA and Mastercard certification its customer base includes international and Chinese banks, including Postal Savings Bank of China, DenizBank in Turkey, Commercial Bank of Kuwait, South Africa Laxton, South African Post Office, and Orientfinans Bank in Uzbekistan.

Apple unveils launch partners for Apple Pay in Germany

Apple Pay will launch in Germany “soon”, the iPhone maker has revealed, with support from American Express, Mastercard, Visa, Maestro, Boon, Bunq, Comdirect, Deutsche Bank, Edenred, Fidor Bank, Hanseatic Bank, HypoVereinsbank (HVB), N26, O2 Banking and VimPay. No official launch date has yet been announced but customers of both HVB and Bunq have received emails announcing their imminent support, MacRumors reports.

The six success factors for successful smart card migration

Education institutes are increasingly phasing out legacy security solutions for smart RFID cards.
Smart cards are easy to carry around, can be programmed and reprogrammed remotely, and offer a secure way for students and teachers alike to access campus facilities. Many education institutes recognise this, but interviews conducted with several institutions show that the biggest barrier to smart card migration isn’t budget constraints or limited resources – it’s not knowing where to start. Having a plan in place and leveraging tried-and-true best practices can take the guesswork out of an infrastructure migration of this scale.

Thinfilm and Pioneering Distillery Mackmyra Bring NFC Interactivity to Whisky and Gin Brands

Thin Film Electronics, a global leader in NFC (Near Field Communication) mobile marketing solutions, announced Mackmyra Swedish Whisky (Mackmyra) as a new customer in the spirits category. Based in Sweden, the distiller of single-malt whisky is using Thinfilm’s NFC mobile marketing solution to connect directly with customers via smartphone, raise awareness of its Private Cask program, and launch social media-driven campaigns that promote its most popular products.

Mackmyra’s initial deployment, launching this quarter, uses Thinfilm NFC tags to build digital provenance information into Mackmyra’s Private Cask offering, which allows consumers to create and bottle their own unique whisky. Each individual bottle originating from the Private Cask will link back to detailed information about that specific cask – all through the touch of a smartphone. Following this, a second campaign will promote a customer-submitted drink recipe competition featuring the distillery’s flagship “MACK” whisky and its premium Lab+Distillery gin. Customers who submit unique recipes and share through social platforms will have a chance to win various prizes.

Following these initial deployments, Mackmyra and Thinfilm plan to enable further physical+digital experiences on signature products during the first half of 2019, including combining NFC with other state-of-the-art digital technologies to bring customers behind the scenes of the distilling process.

Tencent QR code payment service users exceeds 50 million

More than 50 million users across 100 cities in China now use the QR code payments for public transportation. Tencent’s QR code payment service that it launched for public transportation “sao yi sao”, back in 2017, recently exceeded 50 million users across 100 cities, according to local media in China, reported TechNode.

BLE- and Bluetooth-Based Wristband Delivers Personalized Health Information

As part of the growing trend toward consumer wearable devices, Maxim Integrated has developed a health-care-based wristband system using Internet of Things (IoT) technology, known as Health Sensor Platform (HSP) 2.0. The solution is intended to put the management of one's own health and wellbeing more firmly in the hands of a person wearing the device. The watchband consists of multiple sensors, including an electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor and photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensors to measure heart rate and variation, as well as a Bluetooth or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connection to a mobile phone or device. It comes with an IoT app enabling users to receive and manage the sensor-based data.

Bank Indonesia to Standardize QR Code Payment

Quick Response Code (QR Code) is increasingly being used as one of the digital payment methods in Indonesia besides EDC (Electronic Data Capture). QR Code is a method of transaction which involves scanning through a device or other infrastructure owned by the buyer or the merchant. In Indonesia, several companies engaged in payments system services and providers of electronic wallets use the QR Code method. In view of this, Bank Indonesia (BI) plans to issue a regulation related to standardization of QR Code payment in the country. The Head of Payment System Policy department of Bank Indonesia, Onny Widjanarko, announced that the regulation will be issued this year.

Contactless payments overtake chip and pin in the UK

Contactless payments usage has grown 30% in the UK over the past year to become the most popular card payment type for in-store transactions, Worldpay reports — and the growth is partly driven by an “astonishing” rise in consumer adoption of mobile payment services. The use of mobile wallets such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Pay increased by 114% during the first six months of 2018, the payments processor’s figures show. Fashion retailers have seen the greatest shift from chip and PIN to contactless and mobile payments, with a 415% year-on-year increase overall and a 500% increase in mobile contactless payments.