While it has been possible to overcome many of the issues Huawei phones have with Petal Search (and the growing number of apps in the App Gallery), one issue that has persisted is the lack of contactless payments.
It is one of the biggest reasons why I didn’t use the Huawei P40 Pro as my daily phone. I rarely use cash nowadays and take my wallet out with me maybe half a dozen times a year.
Huawei have now announced a partnership with Stocard to enabled NFC payments in Europe.
Specific countries include: UK, Germany, Italy, France, and the Netherlands.
Stocard started out as an app to store your loyalty cards, but last year, as part of their UK launch they introduced mobile payments via a virtual Mastercard issued in the app
I would assume Stocard will eventually land on the Huawei Watch 3. It already has NFC functionality so there just needs to be a compatible app to enable them.
Full Press Release:
AppGallery, one of the top three app marketplaces globally, has announced the launch of near-field communication (NFC) payments in Europe following its partnership with Stocard, the leading European mobile wallet.
Following the success of its partnership with AppGallery, Stocard worked with Huawei to integrate Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) Core capabilities to its app, enabling NFC payments across Huawei smartphones. Huawei mobile users in UK, Germany, Italy, France, and the Netherlands can now make seamless smartphone payments without needing to carry physical cards.
“We are beyond excited to partner with Huawei to implement HMS Core capabilities, and deliver a more convenient and powerful shopping experience to the users,” said David Handlos, Founder & CEO, Stocard. “The integration marks a major milestone in our commitment to deliver the future of banking to our users. We are thankful for Huawei’s support throughout the entire partnership and in helping us realise this vision.”
As well as reducing wallet clutter, the introduction of NFC payments offers Huawei smartphone users easy access to membership cards and vouchers, making the collection of loyalty points simpler than ever. Additional discounts, coupons and flyers will be available through the app, with a chance to claim money off of everything from airline tickets, to gift cards from participating retailers; retailers include IKEA, Tchibo MediaMarkt, Douglas, and others.
Having a huge userbase of 60 million, Stocard chose to further enhance its services through HMS Core integration. Now, Stocard customers in Europe can use the app available in AppGallery to top up their account or prepaid card in advance to make transactions at any Mastercard acceptance point.
With AppGallery and its HMS Core, Huawei is committed to offering its partners the most innovative technologies to support them in expanding their own offering. Huawei partners can trust that on top of access to AppGallery’s globally reaching audience, they can leverage state-of-the-art technology to expand their own app capabilities.
“At Huawei, we are passionate about supporting our partners so that they can offer their customers a more competitive service – whether that be through improving app capabilities or supporting with business development,” said Peter Gauden, Head of West Europe Ecosystem Marketing at Huawei Consumer Business Group. “Our top priority is to continue to offer our partners the technology and services that they need to provide the best possible experience for their customers.”
Posted by Mighty Gadget Blog: UK Technology News and Reviews