NFC

Right on the heels of the announcement that Apple Pay is launching in China in early 2016, Samsung has done the same, revealing that its own mobile payments system will be available in the country at around the same time. Similar to Apple, Samsung Pay has reached a deal with China UnionPay, the nation's bankcard association, allowing its cardholders to user their compatible Samsung smartphone to make NFC-based payments at QuickPass point-of-sale terminals.

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Smartwatches with circular faces have proven to be among the more popular designs with the Moto 360 and the Samsung Gear S2 among the offerings. When the Gear S2 launched, Samsung had intended to make Samsung Pay available for the smartwatch in November. Word is that the launch of Samsung Pay on the device will now be pushed to sometime in 2016.

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US department store chain JCPenny is about to become one of the latest retailers to begin accepting mobile payments via Apple Pay. While a full nationwide rollout of the payment method is said to be in the works for spring of 2016, a limited test program has been launched that allows shoppers to add their JCPenny store credit cards to their iPhones to use with Apple Pay.

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Square, the mobile payment company behind the iconic little card readers that plug into smartphones and tablets, has just introduced its first NFC reader, taking a step towards contactless payment methods including Apple Pay. The small, white reader is shaped like a (wait for it) square, and the company has made it available first to 100 small businesses across the US, giving them the ability to accept payments from iPhone and Apple Watch users.

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It seems the US's northern neighbors will soon finally be able to make use of mobile payments with their iPhone 6 or Apple Watch. That's right, Apple Pay is expected to launch in Canada on November 17th, as in, this Tuesday, complete with support for American Express cards. This news comes from the blog iPhone in Canada, which adds that the date of launch was confirmed by American Express representatives.

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Traditional watch makers have not been so eager to jump head on into the smartwatch buzz but the advancement of mobile payment might be giving them second thoughts. Swatch, however, while still mulling over a proper smartwatch product, does have a stopgap solution to that. It has just announced a non-smart, some call it dumb, regular watch in China and while it doesn't do all the fancy things smartwatches can do, it does do at least one thing they can: make payments without the need for cash or credit cards.

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Starting at the end of this year, Starbucks will start a pilot program for Apple Pay in a number of stores inside the United States. While Apple Pay is available for use in some Starbucks in the UK now, the United States collection of Starbucks locations have yet to integrate the iPhone-based payment system. According to Apple's Jennifer Bailey, Starbucks will begin to roll out Apple Pay integration for Apple devices to most stores inside the year 2016.

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Following a US beta program and full debut in Samsung's native country South Korea, mobile payment system Samsung Pay is now live in the US. The feature aims to rival similar mobile payment tech like Apple Pay and Android Pay, but in addition to the expected NFC-capable payments, Samsung Pay can also be used at sale terminals that accept magnetic stripe cards. Because of this Samsung's solution can already be used at a wide range of merchants across the country.

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Having been available overseas for some time now, PayPal is finally bringing its advanced payment card reader, "Here," to the US. The device is aimed at making point-of-sale terminals able to accept the new EMV cards that rolling out across the country. EMV cards offer more security due to storing data on an embedded chip instead of a magnetic stripe. PayPal's Here will be able to accept not only EMV and magnetic stripe cards, but it also support NFC payments including Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay.

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Today Android devices everywhere* will begin to gain access to Android Pay. Just so long as those devices have NFC. *And just so long as they're inside the United States. Android Pay is a sort of re-branding of Google Wallet, a system where Google's devices handled your money from a variety of sources, allowing you to pay for items both in the physical world and digitally. Now with systems like Apple Pay and Samsung Pay on the rise, Google has changed the name.

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Today we've gotten he opportunity to get a hands-on look at the WENA watch from Sony. Sony suggests that WENA stands for "wear electronics naturally", showing this watch as one that incorporates smart electronics - NFC for mobile payments, for example - with a standard watch face up front. This means the watch won't need to be charged all the time while the back of it - the strap - will allow smart contact.

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As a new school year is kicking off in the US, the University of Oklahoma seems to be appealing to new and returning students that use an iPhone 6 or Apple Watch. As of this week, the school has become the first university to begin accepting Apple Pay at point-of-sale locations campus-wide. Apple users can take advantage of the new payment system at places such as bookstores, restaurants, and coffee shops.

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