UOB pioneers contactless payments with tokenised security in Asia Pacific

The UOB Mighty mobile app saw 5,500 unique downloads a day since its soft launch.

We have long heard of contactless payments via radio-frequency identification (RFID) or near field communication (NFC) in the Asian retail sector, but a Singaporean bank recently pioneered a new way of paying without having to hand over some cash at the point of sale.

UOB's new mobile application called UOB Mighty enables customers to turn their smartphones into electronic wallets instantly and start making contactless payments in Singapore and globally. Payments made through this app have no limit other than the customer’s own credit or debit card limit.

Since the soft launch on 14 November 2015, UOB Mighty has seen an average of 5,500 unique downloads a day.

What spurred the launch of UOB Mighty?
According to Dennis Khoo, UOB’s Head of Personal Financial Services, Singapore, UOB Mighty was developed in keeping with consumers’ changing lifestyles. Consumers are increasingly attached to their smartphones which have become an indispensable lifestyle device.

“At the same time, we have also seen contactless payments on UOB cards grow 67% year-on-year. This is why we are offering our customers the option of making contactless payments, with tokenised security, through their smartphones at the point of sale - whether it is in a supermarket, coffee shop or at a petrol station. UOB is in fact the only bank in the world, outside of the United States, to offer such a service,” he said.

What's new/unique about it? How can consumers benefit from it?
For the first time in Asia Pacific, consumers with an NFC-enabled Android smartphone and a UOB Visa credit or debit card can make contactless payments with tokenised security by tapping their phones at the point of sale.

Tokenisation is a method of encrypting a customer’s card payment data on the mobile device to protect sensitive card information. Customers simply have to launch UOB Mighty app, select the ‘Pay’ function, enter a PIN and tap to pay at NFC-enabled terminals in Singapore and overseas.

The UOB Mighty has a simple user interface and enables customers to perform daily banking transactions, and in four easy steps, pay bills and transfer funds on the go. Its dining features enable the user to receive recommendations on and make bookings at restaurants based on cuisine and location.

This is available for both iPhone and Android users. iPhone users also have secure one-touch access to view their accounts with Touch ID.

ABF: What else is there to know about UOB Mighty?
UOB Mighty can be downloaded from Google Play and the Apple App Store. The full functionalities of bank, pay and dine are available to Android users with Android 4.4 and above. Iphone users require iOS 8 and above for bank and dine functionalities. The pay service will be enabled for MasterCard cardmembers in early 2016.
 

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