The death of cash: Brits pay by card and mobile instead April 13, 2015 Cash makes up just £18.33 of every £100 spent in the UK, Halifax said today, as card and digital payments take over. The rise of digital payments is starkly outlined in new figures from the bank, which show how quickly Britons have adopted cutting-edge technologies. Cheques account for just 1.2 per cent of all current [...]
Vodafone teams up with Visa and Carta Worldwide to offer contactless payments to Android mobile users March 30, 2015 Vodafone is getting into the business of contactless payments by allowing its customers to add bank cards to their digital wallets in the coming months it announced yesterday. The telecoms giant has teamed up with Visa and Carta Worldwide to allow European customers with Android smartphones to pay for services at contactless pay points via [...]
Central banks could create cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin February 25, 2015 Cryptocurrency Bitcoin could revolutionise the way Britons pay for goods and services, in much the same way as the internet shook up access to information, the Bank of England has said. Bitcoin “potentially combined with mobile technology, may reshape the mechanisms for making secure payments”, the Bank said. The Bank could itself create digital currencies, [...]
The UK has the sixth best digital economy in Europe February 24, 2015 The UK is one of Europe's leading digital economies, ranking as the sixth best country in Europe a new report has found. It's ahead of the majority of the rest of Europe when it comes to digital in areas such as connectivity, internet use and the integration of digital technology, according to the European Commission [...]
Contactless payments rise to £380m as Brits favour plastic February 16, 2015 Britain's shoppers spent more than £380m via contactless payments in December, showing their rapid adoption of the latest technologies, according to the UK Cards Association. Overall spending on plastic rose to £49.1bn in the month, with debit cards leading the way. Debit card spending rose 7.2 per cent on the year to £34.5bn, over a [...]
Spending on contactless cards triples in just one year February 7, 2015 Peoples' penchant for contactless cards pushed total spending on them to a record £2.32bn last year according to data from The UK Cards Association. This was three times more than last year's figure. Shoppers can make contactless payments of up to £20 by touching their cards against a reader. It means small purchases can be made [...]
Mastercard’s Fare Free Friday returns: Free travel on London transport on November 28 using TfL’s contactless payment November 25, 2014 After a succesful outing two weeks ago, MasterCard is bringing its Fare Free Friday back for another day. Londoners will be able to travel for free on the Tube, train, tram, bus and DLR this Friday (November 28) if they swipe their MasterCard on the transport network's contactless system instead of an OysterCard. [...]
MasterCard offers “Fare Free Friday” for London travellers as contactless journeys hit 12 million November 14, 2014 The number of journeys made on London transport using contactless payment has hit 12 million since it was first introduced on the capital’s network of tubes, trains and buses.. The new figures come as Londoners are being offered free travel by MasterCard across the capital to encourage even more people to use the technology. Contactless [...]
Mastercard “Fare Free Friday”: Free travel on London transport on 14 and 28 November using TFL’s contactless payment November 10, 2014 Londoners are being treated to travel around the city for free if they use a MasterCard on the transport network’s new contactless payment system this Friday. MasterCard holders will be able travel by tube, train, tram, bus and DLR for free by swiping their card on the new contactless system which has now been used [...]
Bitcoin is bust: Why investors should abandon the doomed cryptocurrency November 5, 2014 SINCE its inception, the market for bitcoin has experienced one of the most remarkable roller coaster rides of all time. Originally worth a fraction of one cent in 2009, the price of bitcoin rose to peak at not far short of $1,200 in December 2013. Since then, it has fallen erratically and is currently about [...]