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The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published a paper that uses a structural model of consumer demand and supply to understand the main drivers of adoption of smartphones in emerging markets. It finds that the most important factors are improvements in quality and changes in the income distribution of the population. A 10% expansion in the size of the smartphone market can be achieved by reducing the value added tax by 9 percentage points. The same adoption target can also be achieved by providing lower-income individuals with a targeted subsidy for smartphones.

Central Bank of Kenya Governor Patrick Njoroge has reportedly warned that lack of access to smartphones by more than half of mobile users in the country will hamper the rollout of its proposed central bank digital currency (CBDC) that requires access to the Internet. Of course readers of this blog know that the Governor has been misinformed, as there are a number of available CBDC platforms that do not require smartphones, including those of Celo, Roberto Giori and WhisperCash.

Crunchfish published a paper by Lipis Advisors on the challenges of implementing offline payments on smartphones and how to mitigate the risks. Offline payments require a much higher security than what is offered by the smartphone rich execution environment (REE). This higher level of security may be achieved by implementing offline payments as a trusted application (TA) protected by a tamper-resistant element (TRE) that provides a secure runtime and storage for both cryptographic keys and other offline assets, such as the offline balance and risk rules. The TRE can be provided either as a hardware-based standalone TRE or a software-based app-integrated TRE, the trade-off being the higher security of the former versus the greater scalability of the latter.

Visa is investing in MagicCube, a payments-security fintech focused on enabling devices like smartphones to accept payments. In lieu of buying checkout hardware, merchants could use smartphones to read contactless cards while securely capturing financial PIN and other verification methods, including biometrics. The solution provides end-to-end functionality, security, and modern acceptance capabilities previously limited to hardware-based terminals. The entirely software-based solution offers a plug-and-play, fully contained module that can fit into the current flows of any modern acquiring bank or merchant acceptance solution.

The Stellar Signer Card uses multisignature technology to maximize the security of digital assets issued on the Stellar network. It connects to smartphones with near-field communication (NFC) technology which provides an instant connection. In the LOBSTR Vault app the user chooses any transaction and holds the card under the smartphone. A signed transaction will then be sent to the Stellar network automatically.

The Bank of China has partnered with China Telecom and China Unicom to test SIM card near-field communication (NFC) payments for the e-CNY on specific Android smartphones in certain regions. The SIM card hardware wallet shares its balance with the main wallet, eliminating the need for separate top-ups. In order to make payments, users are only required to move their mobile phones close to point of sales terminals, even with a switched-off smartphone. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Il2p2rKE116xMh97Ml0wQg

Lipis Advisors in partnership with Crunchfish published a paper that outlines the key security aspects relating to offline digital currency payments. Unlike other offline payment platforms that operate in various devices' secure elements, Crunchfish advocates a software-based approach that operates in smartphone trusted execution environments (TEEs). The need for hardware-based digital cash (e.g., on cards, wearables and feature phones) is acknowledged, but as peripheral bearers that need to be able to exchange digital cash with the smartphone as the main bearer, even in full offline-mode.

The Qingdao branch of the Bank of China (BOC) has rolled out a new payment option for Qingdao Rail Transit through digital yuan hardware wallets for payments without network and electricity. This "deferred payment" system allows travelers to use the public transit service first and pay later with the hardware wallet featured enabled on users' smartphones. This functionality requires the use of an Android-based smartphone running a "Super SIM" card that stores digital yuan account information for use when there's no network or electricity, introduced by China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom in 2023. https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1794932657646082801&wfr=spider&for=pc

Japan's goal of creating a cashless society has got one step closer with the release of J-Coin Pay - a smartphone-based digital wallet that uses QR codes to provide payment services. Despite the name, however, J-Coin has even less to do with cryptocurrency than the recently announced JPMCoin.

Transactors can use the smartwatch app to generate a QR code - a square-shaped barcode - that someone else can then scan with their smartphone to send over a payment.

A new initiative plans to make six of Europe's smartphone wallets interoperable with each other, creating a total network of 5 million users in 10 European countries. Notably, they are working with Chinese fintech giant Alipay to develop a unified QR code.

Mexican central bank's real-time payment system CoDi (Cobro Digital, Digital Charge) went live on September 30. Use of the payment system, which uses QR codes or NFC, requires a smartphone and an account at a financial institution.

These days, by far the fastest and most efficient way of delivering money is via smartphones and mobile devices. The U.S. government should simply provide a general portal to a wide range of payment delivery mechanisms. Visa and Mastercard are easily capable of handling these payments, especially as their normal transaction volumes have fallen significantly due to the shutdown. But the government should also work with platforms such as Venmo, Zelle, Square Cash, Paypal, Apple Pay and Google Pay [Chime, a San Francisco fintech startup, says it's piloted a way to distribute the $1200]. And it could also offer payment in cryptocurrency as an option.

Checkout.com will join the Libra Association in developing its series of stablecoins. Libra was announced last year as an effort to create a single global currency that could expand financial services to anyone who had a smartphone and an internet connection, though some of these ambitions have since been scaled back.

The Telegram Open Network (TON) operating system (OS), an end-to-end open-source infrastructure that allows developers and users to work with the TON blockchain, will reportedly soon be available on smartphones and personal computers for mainstream users. TON OS is not an alternative to existing operating systems, but will serve as an add-on for devices, making them able to support blockchain applications. This is despite Telegram's ongoing legal battle against the U.S. SEC. (Telegram is seeking to appeal a U.S. federal court's ruling in favor of the SEC to halt the distribution of the platform's native Gram tokens.)

There are now 75 members in Celo's "Alliance for Prosperity" stablecoin payments network ahead of its mid-May mainet launch. Celo is a mobile-first blockchain-based platform alongside a suite of financial tools accessible to anyone with a basic smartphone. The stability protocol can host an ecology of stable value currencies like the Celo Dollar, regional currencies, and commodity prices.

Bison Trails has announced support for the Celo open network, which enables smartphone users to send crypto directly to a phone number instead of a blockchain address. The added support means that users will be able to transfer value using Celo's stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar on the Bison Trails platform. The Celo tech system has three layers: Celo Blockchain, Celo Core Contracts, and Application.

The European Commission (EC) proposed a framework for a European Digital Identity which will be available to all citizens, residents, and businesses in the European Union. The proposed European Digital Identity wallets will enable holders to prove their identity and share electronic documents with the click of a button on their smartphone. They will be able to access online services with their national digital identification, which will be recognized throughout Europe. Very large platforms will be required to accept the use of European Digital Identity wallets upon request of the user, for example to prove their age. Use of the European Digital Identity wallet will always be at the choice of the user.

Giesecke+Devrient's (G+D's) hybrid-deployment Filia model of a value-based CBDC solution involves existing members of the currency cycle playing a vital role in. The creation and issuance of data files that represent monetary value take place in a highly secure offline environment at the central bank, while distribution is carried out by commercial banks or other financial service providers. Payment service providers can integrate Filia into their own offerings - as part of a larger payment ecosystem - to enable new business models, and to foster growth and innovation in an open system. Filia can be utilized through smartphones, smartcards, smartwatches, and other forms of digital wallets, without the need for a bank account, the disclosure of private data, or consumer fees. It also allows for secure offline consecutive offline payments.

At a time when interest rates on conventional bank deposits are pinned to the floor-often below 0.5%- financial technology companies are offering to pay owners of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies annual percentage yields of 2% to 6% and sometimes more. You can deposit your coins with a few taps on one of their smartphone apps. What's the catch? There are several, actually.