HSBC announced that it will begin the conversion to contactless technology this month, replacing all customer banking debit cards, according to ThinkMoney.com. The bank will start to roll out the new contactless cards to existing customers whose debit cards are due to expire this month and then continue the process as cards expire. Customers who […]

Virgin Mobile has set a May 15 launch date for the LG Optimus Elite, the first device in the operator’s lineup to feature NFC and Google Wallet. Debuted by Sprint last month, the Optimus Elite runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS and features a 3.5-inch HVGA touchscreen, 800 MHz processor and 5MP rear-facing camera. With […]

Sprint has announced its latest NFC-enabled mobile phone, the HTC Evo 4G LTE. Set to debut on May 18, the $199.99 handset will run on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and come with Google Wallet, making it the fourth phone from Sprint to offer the service, behind the Nexus S, Galaxy Nexus and the recently-launched […]

Startup iCache has developed a mobile wallet solution for the iPhone that enables users consolidate all of their payment, loyalty and membership cards onto one smart card. The protective Geode case, priced at $199, features a magnetic stripe reader that enables users to input their payment card info on the free Geode app. From there, […]

Gaming Partners International Corporation announced that it will introduce several new products at the upcoming Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia exhibition in Macau, China. GPI will release new currency security features that can be added to any of the company’s chip brands, highlighting several enhancements to its Bourgogne-et-Grasset (B&G) currency and RFID product portfolios. The […]

Vision-Box, a biometrics solutions provider, has come out with an automatic border control e-gate that supports multimodal biometric authentication. This new e-gate is a thin system that contains vb i-match, a single sourced design that is modular and flexible and can be adapted to business requirements and infrastructure constraints that would otherwise disrupt passenger flow. […]

American Express has announced that it is adding its Consumer, Open Small Business and Serve cards to the Isis Mobile Wallet platform. American Express now joins Chase, Capitol One and BarclayCard in enabling its card holders to make NFC payments and collect rewards using an Isis-enabled mobile phone. “Now our card members and merchants can […]

Nigeria’s National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) announced on Wednesday at the 4th West Africa Information Communications Technology Congress 2012 that more than 100 million Nigerians lacked official identification in the country’s national identity database. As reported on AllAfrica.com, Chris Onyemenam, director-general of the NIMC, said that this constitutes about two-thirds of the population. Nigeria has […]

South Africa’s First National Bank (FNB) has added a new feature to its mobile app that enables users to make peer-to-peer payments via GPS technology. The new “GeoPayments” service leverages a smart phone’s embedded GPS chip to connect FNB banking app users up to 500 meters apart, enabling them to wirelessly send and receive funds […]

VeriFone Systems has unveiled its new Sail mobile point of sale solution for merchants who want to accept NFC and EMV payments on their mobile phones or tablets. Like with Square’s mobile point of sale reader, the Sail device plugs directly into the headphone jack of an iOS or Android mobile phone. Sail can also […]