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Get the latest announcements from MEF Members across the mobile ecosystem globally in this weekly review of member news…

Vodafone UK adds PayPal option to NFC app

PayPal users in the UK can now link their accounts to Vodafone Pay, and make contactless purchases in 400,000 locations.

Vodafone’s m-payment service is part of the Vodafone Wallet app. The service works with any Visa and MasterCard card, and now it works with Paypal too. If the customer doesn’t have a PayPal account, they can use Vodafone Pay to sign up for one.

“Money is going digital, and the smartphone is at the centre of this transformation,” said Rob Harper, director of mobile commerce at PayPal UK.

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Etisalat launches 4G LTE in Nigeria

Nigerians have yet another 4G option as Etisalat rolls out its high speed mobile broadband.

Etisalat 4G LTE is extra convenient because all Etisalat SIMs are already LTE enabled. No need for a SIM swap. Matthew Willsher, CEO of Etisalat Nigeria, said: “Our customers will enjoy efficient broadband internet and uninterrupted connectivity to clearer voice calls, increased access to online streaming and ultra-high definition videos,” he said.

Rival operators Glo and MTN have also launched 4G in Nigeria.

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Digi.me joins digital ID initiative

Julian Ranger, chairman of digi.me, is to join the board of the ID standards body Kantara Initiative.

Digi.me is one of the startups trying to drive forward the personal data economy. It offers an app which gathers a user’s data in one place then share it with enterprises in return better and more personalised services.

The company recognises that the personal data economy will only grow if firms offer interoperable services. This is why it’s joined Kantara.

Range said: “Ecosystems grow faster when systems can interoperate and businesses are more likely to be used by other businesses if their solutions do not lock users in.

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Hiya: UK scam calls on the rise

The UK had the highest percentage of nuisance calls in Europe, says a new study of 100m numbers by Hiya.

The call-blocking and caller ID company found that the number of calls to mobiles claiming to offer compensation for a recent accident has risen by more than 76 per cent in the last three months.

The fastest growing phone scams are:

  • Accident compensation (up 76% in the last quarter)
  • Prize lotto scams (up 69% in the last quarter)
  • Bank scams (up 40% in the last quarter)

Hiya launched in the UK earlier this year on Android and iOS.

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Ooredoo Qatar attracts record traffic to games portal

More people than ever are playing games The Ooredoo Gaming Portal, which was launched with Nazara Technologies.

The service offers subscribers the ability to download and play unlimited games on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Subscriptions start at QR2 per day.

The portal includes more than 500 games, including puzzles, sports, racing, arcade and action, and strategy.

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Norwegian national payment scheme chooses Gemalto

Norway’s banks are building a mobile payments service and they’ve hired Gemalto to make it interoperable.

BankAxept is owned by all the banks in Norway, and has eight million cards in circulation. In 2015, it processed nine out of ten in-store payments. The new solution will give merchants the option of simple and secure payments via their smartphones.

Gemalto will use its Allynis Trusted Service Hub (TSH) to make the service secure and interoperable. It will connect to BankAxept’s tokenisation server and work with all mobile wallet apps in the scheme.

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