“The Qatar Central Bank released specifications for a national QR code system, a project designed to increase financial inclusion and reduce the use of banknotes in the country. Its platform, named the Qatar Mobile Payment System, will be used for all common domestic forms of mobile payments including peer-to-peer transfer, retail payments, public transport ticketing and withdrawals from mobile wallets.”

“Users with Visa debit or credit cards will have the option on the PhonePe app to activate the new payment feature through a one-time validation process to register their card. Users can then carry out transactions on recharges, bill payments, switch platform and many more use cases on the PhonePe app without having to enter an OTP or CVV for every subsequent transaction.”

“Apple is reportedly going to include a Chinese mobile wallet in Apple Pay in its upcoming iOS 14 update with addition of Alipay to its roster of accepted payment methods. Why it matters: Chinese payment apps like Alipay and WeChat Pay are looking to expand overseas.”

“Interest in grocery delivery apps has spiked in the US over the past few days as the seriousness of the coronavirus is starting to sink in. Just yesterday, for example, Walmart Grocery, Instacart and Shipt , which is owned by Target, all set new records for daily app downloads. Comparing average daily downloads in February to yesterday’s (March 15), Instacart, Walmart Grocery and Shipt have seen surges of 218%, 160% and 124%, respectively.”

“With the added feature, new users who sign up for Instacart can now start shopping in less than a day. They previously had to wait for their physical payment card to arrive in the mail. Instacart Shopper Engineering vice-president Kevin Henrikson said: “We know that for many shoppers, convenience is key. We’ve heard from shoppers that they would like an easier way to pay with their phone, instead of relying on a physical payment card that can get lost or buried in their wallet.”

“Chinese outbound tourism rose to approximately 81.3 million trips in the first half of 2019, up 14% year-over-year (YoY), per the Chinese Tourism Academy as cited in a report from Alipay and Nielsen, presenting payments providers with a valuable chance to rack up volume and build loyalty. And considering the most popular factor that affects Chinese tourists’ overseas shopping habits is the payment method (37%), which just beats out product quality (36%) and price (36%), payments companies’ operations may matter as much as which merchants they work with.”

“Merchants in Malaysia can now use an off-the-shelf Android NFC smartphone and an app developed by CIMB Bank to accept debit card payments valued at up to RM250 (US$61.08) — with no additional hardware required.”

“Wirecard, the global innovation leader for digital financial technology, and Orange Bank are expanding their successful cooperation and now offering all Android users in France convenient mobile payment with Google Pay. Thanks to Wirecard, Orange Bank has already established itself as the market leader for mobile payments in France – 17% of such payments were made via the Orange Bank App in 20181. The addition of Google Pay should increase this figure enormously.”

The Canadian Credit Union Association (CCUA) announced today that Access Credit Union (MB), Affinity Credit Union (SK), Assiniboine Credit Union (MB), Innovation Credit Union (SK), Prospera Credit Union (BC), Servus Credit Union (AB) and Steinbach Credit Union (MB) are the first credit unions in Canada to launch Interac Debit on Google Pay. Members of these credit unions can now make purchases directly from their chequing or savings accounts at retailers displaying the Interac Flash logo, or within apps of participating merchants, with eligible Android™ devices.

“PayByPhone, the leading global provider of mobile parking payment solutions, today announced it reached over 30 million registered users mark – a 22 percent growth from last year. Additionally, PayByPhone completed more than 102 million global transactions year to date. The volume of PayByPhone’s transactions rose 29 percent year-over-year.”

“Making it easier for consumers to pay their municipal bills could transform revenue collections for South Africa’s struggling metros and municipalities, bringing in much-needed funds to improve service delivery in the process. Thomas Pays, the CEO of South African digital payments platform Ozow (formerly i-Pay), says most municipalities have debt books of billions of Rands – and automating the payment process for consumers would not only increase payment levels, but help solve perennial problems like cash handling and account errors on manual EFTs.”

“Southwest Airlines will join the roster of merchants that accept Apple Pay, according to an announcement Wednesday from CellPoint Digital and UATP. UATP, the airline-owned payment network, and CellPoint Digital, a travel industry payments specialist, said Dallas-based Southwest will make Apple Pay available across all channels to buy tickets and services. UATP and CellPoint Digital formed a partnership in 2018 to offer UATP’s member airlines payment services.”

“Thanks for paying for my lunch, how much should I swish you?” is a sentence often heard in Sweden. A growing number of stores are also allowing customers to pay using the money transfer app, and it will soon become possible to use it to pay for purchases outside Sweden, the company said on Tuesday. It said it had teamed up with six other mobile payment providers in Europe to form the group European Mobile Payment Systems Association (Empsa), which will make it possible for Swedish residents to use Swish in Belgium, Germany, Austria, Finland, Denmark, Portugal, Switzerland and Norway.”

“Indian mobile payments firm MobiKwik has reached a milestone very few of its local rivals can even contemplate: not burning money. The 10-year-old Gurgaon-headquartered firm said Tuesday it is now generating a profit excluding interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.”

“Seven European mobile payment systems on Tuesday said they are joining forces to better develop cross-border contactless payments. The move is seen as an attempt to create a regional standard for smartphone payments that does not require Apple, Google, Visa or Mastercard. Mark Wraa-Hansen, CEO of Denmark’s MobilePay system, says the European Mobile Payment System Association combines 25 million registered users, about one million merchant acceptance points and more than 350 partner banks.”

“JPMorgan Chase & Co. is planning to shut down its Chase Pay app in the bank’s third reversal on digital offerings in as many months.    The bank started informing customers Wednesday that they’ll no longer be able to pay with their smartphones when shopping in stores, according to an email seen by Bloomberg. They’ll still be able to use Chase Pay on the websites and apps of retailers that accept it.”

“Facebook Inc’s messaging service WhatsApp is in talks with multiple Indonesian digital payment firms to offer their mobile transaction services, in a bid to tap the nation’s fast growing e-commerce sector, people familiar with the matter said.Indonesia could become the second country worldwide where WhatsApp introduces such services, as it awaits regulatory approval from India, its biggest market by users, that has been delayed due to local data storage rules.”

“Paytm, India’s biggest mobile payments firm, now has 10 million customers in Japan, the company said as it pushes to expand its reach in international markets. Paytm entered Japan last October after forming a joint venture with SoftBank and Yahoo Japan called PayPay. In addition to 10 million users, PayPay is now supported by 1 million merchant partners and local stores in Japan, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and CEO of Paytm said Thursday. The mobile payments app has clocked over 100 million transactions to date in the nation, he claimed . In June, PayPay had 8 million users.”