Topic “Asda”

Zapp Plans September 2015 Launch for ACH-Based Mobile-Payments Service in UK

By: 
Kiona Smith-Strickland

NFC Times Exclusive: While Apple Pay has re-energized interest in bank-issued mobile credit and debit cards using secure elements in NFC phones, backers of decoupled debit and other automated clearing house-based mobile-payments schemes continue to gear up.

Big UK Merchant Asda to Trial Contactless Payment

Large UK retailer Asda will pilot contactless payment starting in July at 25 of its stores, Visa Europe announced today.
The chain, a subsidiary of giant U.S.-based retailer Wal-Mart Stores, has only agreed to trial the technology, not to roll it out to its 500 stores in the United Kingdom. Most of the chain’s stores are supercenters or hypermarkets.
At present, there are 105,000 contactless terminals in place in the UK, most at small shops, Visa told NFC Times. The highest profile UK merchant so far rolling out contactless acceptance is McDonald’s, which agreed last year to equip all of its 1,200 locations in the country.
But other big merchants, including Starbucks and Tesco, the latter the largest retailer in the UK, are holding back from nationwide deployments.
This summer, however, Transport for London promises to become the biggest “merchant” to date accepting contactless credit and debit cards, when it launches open-loop fare collection on its 8,500 London buses.
The transport authority has vowed to be ready to accept the contactless bank cards on the buses in time for the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. 
There are about 20 million contactless bank cards in circulation in the UK today, most support Visa payWave or MasterCard PayPass. Foreign open-loop credit and debit cards will also work on the buses. And it’s possible the buses could accept payment from NFC phones if the payment applications are not prepaid, which requires different authentication.
Supercenter retailer Asda has agreed to trial contactless payment in the UK at 25 stories this summer, though the major merchant has not committed to a national rollout at its 500 stores.

Large UK retailer Asda will pilot contactless payment starting in July at 25 of its stores, Visa Europe announced today.

HEADLINE NEWS

Australian Transit Agency to Launch Mobility-as-a-Service Trial as It Pursues Long-Term MaaS Strategy

Plans by Transport for New South Wales, Australia’s largest transit agency, to launch a trial enabling users to plan, book and pay for multimodal rides is the next step toward the agency’s long-ter

Updated: U.S. Transit Agency Seeks to Reduce–Though Not Eliminate–Cash Acceptance with New Fare-Collection System

Updated: The Spokane Transit Authority in Washington state confirmed that its new fare-collection system will include contactless open-loop payments–with a beta test planned for next October, a spokesman told NFC Times' sister publication Mobility Payments.

UK Government Seeks to Bring London-Style Contactless Fare Payments System to Other Regions

The UK government’s plan to equip 700 rail stations over the next three years to accept contactless open-loop payments is a major initiative, as it seeks to replicate the success of London’s contactless pay-as-you go fare payments system elsewhere in the country–a goal that has proved elusive in the past.

More Cities in Finland Expected to Move to Open-Loop Fare Payments

A fourth city in Finland is beginning to roll out contactless open-loop payments, with “more in the pipeline,” according to one supplier on the project, making the Nordic country one of the latest hotspots for the technology.

Moscow Metro Expands Test of ‘Virtual Troika’ in Pays Wallets, as It Continues to Develop Digital-Payments Services

Moscow Metro is recruiting more users to test its “Virtual Troika” card in two NFC wallets, those supporting Google Pay and Samsung Pay, as one of the world’s largest subway operators continues to seek more ways for its customers to pay for rides.

Ohio Transit Agency Expects Significant Revenue Loss as it Builds Equity with Fare Capping

The Central Ohio Transit Authority, or COTA, officially launched its new digital-payments service Monday, including a fare-capping feature that the agency estimates will cost it $1.8 million per year in lost fare revenue, the agency confirmed to Mobility Payments.

Special Report: Interest Grows in ‘White-Label EMV’ for Closed-Loop Transit Cards

As more transit agencies introduce open-loop fare payments, interest is starting to grow in use of white-label EMV cards that agencies can issue in place of proprietary closed-loop cards for riders who don’t have bank cards or don’t want to use them to pay fares.

Swedish Transit Agency Launches Express Mode Feature for Apple Pay, though Most Ticketing Still with Barcode-Based App

Skånetrafiken, the transit agency serving one of Sweden’s largest counties, announced today it has expanded its contactless open-loop payments service to include the Express Mode feature for Apple Pay.

Major Bus Operators in Hong Kong Now Accepting Open-Loop Payments–Adding More Competition for Octopus

Two more bus operators in Hong Kong on Saturday launched acceptance of open-loop contactless fare payments, with both also accepting QR code-based mobile ticketing–as the near ubiquitous closed-loop Octopus card continues to see more competition.

Moscow Metro Launches Full Rollout of ‘Face Pay;’ Largest Biometric Payments Service of Its Kind

Touting it as the largest rollout of biometric payments in the world, Moscow Metro launched its high-profile “Face Pay” service Friday, as expected, and predicted that 10% to 15% would regularly us

Indonesian Capital Seeks to Expand to Multimodal Fare Collection and MaaS

Indonesia’s capital Jakarta, whose metropolitan area is home to more than 30 million people, is notorious for its stifling traffic congestion. In response, the government metro and light-rail networks and now it is funding an expansion of the fare-collection system to enable more multimodal payments and to build a mobility-as-a-service platform.

Exclusive: NFC Wallets Grow as Share of Contactless Fare Payments and Not Only Because of Covid

Transit agencies that have rolled out open-loop contactless payments are seeing growing use of NFC wallets to pay fares, as Covid-wary passengers see convenience in tapping their phones or wearables to pay.