Payments

VR and AR set to be the next step for contactless payments

VR and AR set to be the next step for contactless payments

In retail stores across the world, the sight of contactless payments by phone or by card has become commonplace. But more than 30 per cent of the world’s population are now considered digital shoppers and the online retail market was worth a staggering $768bn in the USA alone last year – and it’s a market that is expected to double in size by 2025.

QR codes, payments and the eyes of the regulators

QR codes, payments and the eyes of the regulators

Around the world the number of people using QR code technology is rising exponentially. A rise initially triggered by the global pandemic has continued unabated. In America alone, the first year of the pandemic saw a 25 per cent rise in QR code usage to more than 65m users. That became 75m last year, will be 83m this year, and be touching 100m by 2025.

Can 2022 be the Year of Living, and Paying, Safely?

Can 2022 be the Year of Living, and Paying, Safely?

There was a marvellous movie back in the 80’s called “The Year of Living Dangerously”. It chronicled the struggles of a group of people trying to go about their lives during a period of civil unrest. The film’s title has since entered popular culture and language. Substitute ‘pandemic’ for unrest and the title might be appropriate for both of the last two years.

QR Code usage here to stay

QR Code usage here to stay

QR code payments rose to staggering 47 per cent of digital wallet transactions in 2020!

In recent weeks and months some things have changed. The advent of the so-called ‘Pingdemic’ has led to many people deleting their track and trace app and seeking to avoid being ‘caught’ by the system. But it hasn’t actually harmed usage and acceptance of the QR code and its underlying technology. That has proven its case for a place in the world.

The secure route to QR code payments

The secure route to QR code payments

It’s an unwritten rule of a successful technology – someone, somewhere, will try to corrupt it for their own purposes. QR code technology is closing in on 30 years of usage, but the Covid-19 pandemic has turned the technology from niche markets to mainstream consumer use and that inevitably attracts interest from the fraudsters.

Instant Payments, Strong Authentication, and the future of retail in the new normal

Instant Payments, Strong Authentication, and the future of retail in the new normal

The European Union’s PSD2 regulations first came into force more than three years ago – January 2018 to be precise. However, some aspects of the regulations have proven harder to bring into play than others. Just this month for example, the EBA published an opinion and set deadlines on the need to remove obstacles that are preventing compliance with secure account access regulations for some payment providers.

There really is no limit to the way QR codes are being used

There really is no limit to the way QR codes are being used

But if you want permanent proof of how adaptable QR code technology is, then look no further than Roy Healy. Back in 2019, Roy spent two hours in a tattoo parlour having a QR code inked into his forearm. The code initially pointed to Roy’s website, but he can change what happens whenever someone scans the code as often as he likes – sometimes it goes to his blog, sometimes to a fun website, or sometimes to LinkedIn and to what I guess we should call his Inked In profile.

The QR code and the mobile wallet make for powerful friends

The QR code and the mobile wallet make for powerful friends

There’s a counter on the homepage of the GSMA’s website which tells you that today, there are some 5.1 billion unique mobile subscribers in the world. Elsewhere in its pages you can see that there are now more than one billion registered mobile money accounts – that’s one in five of the world’s mobile subscribers.

Deadline for SCA compliance approaching fast for European retailers

Deadline for SCA compliance approaching fast for European retailers

Payments consultancy CMSPI believes the looming deadline in Europe for retailers to comply with the regulations around Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) for online sales could cause further damage to an industry already suffering from the effects of severely reduced in-store footfall.

Emerging from lockdown = how to do business safely with Onescan

Emerging from lockdown = how to do business safely with Onescan

All across the world, businesses that rely on getting people through the door – be it restaurants, theatres, art galleries, or hotels – have been keeping their doors closed during lockdown. And while retail outlets could try to keep the revenue flowing by pushing their online sales even harder, for others that option either did not exist or could not be expected to get even close to bridging the gap.

Mobiles make the world go around

Mobiles make the world go around

The modern mobile industry is only a little over 30 years old – the mobile money market barely a decade. Yet the power of that mobile device to change habits and revolutionise the way we live is both breathtaking and undiminished. The GSMA released a report this month that showed there are now more than one billion mobile money accounts active in the world.

Keeping your contactless distance

Keeping your contactless distance

Social distancing – it’s phrase that few of us would have used little more than one month ago, but one which has now entered the social lexicon in different countries and different languages all around the world. But as well as changing language and behaviour, the Covid-19 Coronavirus crisis has also changed business and the way we trade.