By Oliver Smith on Monday 24 January 2022
Another strategic B2B partnership for all-your-cards-in-one fintech Curve.
UK fintech Curve has been drafted in to enable NFC payments on Huawei’s latest smartphones, including its flagship P50.
The partnership is somewhat similar to the arrangement Curve has with Samsung, however, for Huawei, the stakes are far higher.
That’s because since 2019 Huawei has been cut-off from using Google’s core Android services like the Google Play Store and Google Pay due to a US trade ban against the company.
It’s left Huawei in a tricky situation where its latest smartphones are missing out on key features, previously provided by Google’s software, like NFC payments.
Huawei has been working hard over the last few years on its own version of Android, called HarmonyOS, which includes many features like Maps, Gmail and Photos that were once supplied by Google.
Curve is one of the final pieces of the puzzle, with it now being able to provide the mobile wallet that combines debit, credit and loyalty cards all in one place.
As well as NFC payments, Curve’s app also includes all the novel features that its users have come to expect, like ‘Go Back In Time’ to switch payments to different cards, and an ‘anti-embarrassment’ mode that switches cards if the selected card is declined.
“Everybody should be able to access smart payment solutions and we’re proud to support more people with contactless payments, rewards and ultimately, simplicity and convenience,” said Curve founder and CEO Shachar Bialick.
All Huawei customers in Europe can now download the Curve app and start making NFC contactless mobile payments, with Curve and Huawei also offering new customers 1 per cent cashback for the first month and 5 per cent cashback on Huawei’s online store.
