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Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the implementation of contactless technologies in hospitality and tourism has grown exponentially, making understanding consumer adoption of these technologies an important research area. A systematic literature review of relevant studies published in hospitality and tourism journals was conducted to identify three main subsets of the antecedents of contactless technologies adoption: system, user, and the environment. An analysis of 44 peer-reviewed articles from top hospitality and tourism journals is presented, along with an identification of 10 main categories of contactless technology. Findings indicate the specific technologies adopted since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the common factors studied related to contactless technologies in past research. Theoretical/managerial implications and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facial recognition payment (FRP), a new method of contactless payment, has attracted considerable attention over the past few years. However, the research on this topic remains nascent. This study assessed the drivers of customers' FRP continuance intention from the perspectives of coolness and inspiration. We use online survey data from 610 Chinese FRP customers as the basis for our conceptual model. The results show that the coolness factors of subculture, attractiveness, utility, and originality have positive and significant effects on customers' inspired-by states and that subculture and utility also promote inspired-to. Inspired-by is positively associated with inspired-to, which in turn enhances customers' FRP continuance intention. Furthermore, the relationship between inspired-to and FRP continuance intention is negatively moderated by financial risk. In addition to contributing to the literature on FRP, coolness, and customer inspiration, this study offers several suggestions for implementing and developing FRP systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, many businesses use near-field communications (NFC) payment solutions, which allow them to receive payments from customers quickly and smoothly. However, this technology comes with cyber security risks which must be analyzed and mitigated. This study explores the cyber risks associated with NFC transactions and examines strategies for mitigating these risks, focusing on payment devices. This paper provides an overview of NFC technology, related security vulnerabilities, privacy concerns, and fraudulent activities. It then investigates payment devices such as smartphones, contactless cards, and wearables, highlighting their features and vulnerabilities. The study also examines encryption, authentication, tokenization, biometric authentication, and fraud detection methods as risk mitigation strategies. The paper synthesizes theoretical frameworks to provide insights into NFC transaction security and offers stakeholder recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: the purpose of the article is to analyze the impact of modern technologies on the development of cashless payments and to assess the trend of changes in the Polish payment instruments market. Design/methodology/approach: general scientific and empirical methods and tools of economic science, methods of analysis and synthesis, comparison, summary and grouping were used in the study. GRETL programming was used to find out the impact of the cashless payment market on the economic development of the country. The method of summarizing the results was used to draw conclusions regarding the trends of the cashless payment market in Poland. Findings: the article analyzes the quantitative and qualitative changes in the market of payment instruments in Poland, the main place of which belongs to bank payment cards in conditions where the digitalization of the economy determines the main development trends not only of the financial sector but of all aspects of human life. The dynamics of the main quantitative parameters of the functioning of the payment card market in Poland over the past eight years have been analyzed, which indicates its active qualitative development and the presence of stable growth trends. Research limitations/implications: modeling the relationship between GDP and the development of cashless payments is limited to selected indicators characterizing the development of the contactless payment market in Poland. Quarterly data for the period of 2012-2022 were used for this purpose. Practical implications: the study confirms the need for the banking sector to implement a set of measures to develop the cashless payment market in Poland. Expanding the use of payment cards will not only contribute to the technological development of banks and strengthen their competitive position, but will also have a positive impact on the digital transformation of the economy in general. Social implications: the development of cashless payments contributes to the accessibility, convenience, and speed of their implementation for users. The further use of innovative payment instruments by customers requires, first and foremost, improving the quality of their service and ensuring the security of cashless payments. Originality/value: the study confirms a direct link between the number of payment card transactions and online payments and the country's economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current situation in the post-COVID-19 era demands the implementation of sustainable ways to meet users' evolving needs, particularly in the context of contactless services supporting the information activities of university members. This study examines factors affecting service satisfaction based on the current status of contactless services in South Korean academic libraries. To achieve this, we first investigated the current status of contactless services in South Korean academic libraries, reviewed the literature on factors influencing contactless services, and then conducted a survey to gather users' actual perceptions of these services. Our analysis reveals that the value of all service types—namely, Research Support, Capability Development Support, Information Access Support, and Education Support—influences satisfaction with contactless services. Furthermore, satisfaction with contactless services varies depending on relevant factors such as Convenience, Responsiveness, Security, Reliability, and Personalization, which librarians should consider when designing and implementing programs. Ultimately, by identifying the current level of support for contactless services in South Korean academic libraries and the satisfaction of university members, this study aims to suggest practical directions to improve contactless services in academic libraries. • Academic library contactless services, including Research Support, Capability Development, Information Access, and Education Support, influence user satisfaction. • Academic libraries should design services considering contactless factors like Convenience, Responsiveness, Security, Reliability, and Personalization. • Academic libraries can enhance university members' satisfaction and information literacy skills by providing effective contactless services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology has seen rapid expansion in recent years, used in a variety of applications like tracking, monitoring, ticketing, supply-chain management, contactless payments, etc. Several researchers have recommended elliptical curve cryptography (ECC) as a great cryptosystem to pair with RFID technology to increase security and privacy. However, RFID systems have major problems with insecure communication routes, which pose security concerns. In this research, a DNA TRIKKY based security mechanism has been proposed for RFID protocol to mutually authenticate the RFID tag and reader through insecure channels. The proposed solution uses a sponge structure and DNA-XOR to enhance the hash function generation process, preventing sensitive data from being leaked from the backend server. Informal security evaluations provide proof that the proposed method can withstand many attacks. According to performance evaluation, the proposed method performs better than the current protocols, making it ideal for use with RFID systems since it necessitates less processing time, communication costs, and storage costs particularly for the tag. According to the results, the proposed authentication paradigm works well with RFID tags that have limited resources. A comparison of the proposed protocol to other protocols shows that it performs more securely. Studies have found that this method outperforms other existing strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial and digital inclusion are key consumer policy agendas for governments globally. Yet, despite the importance of online interfaces to manage finances and make payments, the link between financial and digital inclusion remains under-researched. This study analyses the link between digital and financial inclusion drawing on data from a survey conducted of 922 adults in UK in 2018. The results suggest that the active use of banking services depends on digital skills. The level of self-rated internet proficiency predicts a variety of ways in which consumers use financial services in the management of their finances, including contactless payments, bank transfers, and the use of multiple banking services. This holds even when controlling for socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Conversely, household income is more important as a determinant than digital skills in checking account balance online. This possibly reflects that liquidity constrained consumers generally prefer to monitor their spending using cash as this provides more precise information on their spending and remaining balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pandemic has brought about a shift in the way people perform contactless payments using mobile apps, with QR codes becoming increasingly popular as customers can pay for goods and services without having to physically handle cash or cards. Drawing on the protection motivation theory (PMT), this research aims to reveal retail merchants' psychological fears of the COVID-19 virus, potentially carried by banknotes, which impact their decision to use QR-based mobile payment (m-payment) services. Structural equation modeling via SmartPLS was utilized to examine the data acquired from 448 small merchants and test the proposed hypotheses. The findings revealed that perceived severity, response efficacy, and self-efficacy had a positive impact on their continued intention to use m-payments; however, response cost had a negative impact. Furthermore, age, education, and business experience moderated some of the effects of these antecedents on m-payment continuance intention. Through effective awareness campaigns, providers can position m-payment as a worthy alternative to cash, establishing a sense of security and comfort from the disease-based harm that could be caused by the latter. Driven by the new physical distancing norm, a model that explicates one's fear of microbial infection and contamination transmitted from banknotes is a novel approach to predicting contactless payment adoption. Furthermore, the unique merchant perspective on m-payment adoption contributes to the existing literature that is traditionally centered on the consumer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shifting to mobile payments from offline payments can be considered as a social distancing measure in times of a pandemic. The COVID-19 outbreak is currently entering its 'endemic' stage; continued usage of mobile-based payment services is thereby warranted as a social distancing mechanism. This could be true in case of any other pandemic/endemic outbreaks like SARS/Nipah virus outbreaks. The current study examines how the 'perceived' health threat posed by COVID-19 and mobile payment service quality (MPSQ) influence consumers' perceived value toward continuous usage of mobile payment services (MPS) in India. In addition, the investigation considers other factors that prompt consumers to continue using the service. Customers, who used mobile payment applications for making cashless transactions during the pandemic, formed the subjects of the study. Data were collected from 720 mobile payment users. The research model integrates the concept of health threat in health belief model to means-end chain model to explain why a customer opts to choose m-payment at times of a pandemic, and what prompts him/her to continue with its usage. The model was empirically tested with structural equation modeling, along with mediation and moderation analysis. It was found that MPSQ, perceived susceptibility, and perceived severity of COVID-19 significantly enhanced consumers' value perceptions regarding MPS, which leads to satisfaction and continuance intention of using the same. In addition, the study also found a significant positive moderating role of consumer involvement on the relationship between perceived health threat, perceived value, and MPSQ. The threat of COVID-19, being an endemic, or occurrence of similar pandemics persists, and adopting contactless transactions via MPS to comply with social distancing norms may improve customer value perceptions that could aid in the persistence of MPS usage. Also, derivation of value perceptions out of the service quality acts as a driver to continuous usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing popularity of IoT (Internet of Things) devices and the ever-increasing multiplicity of their applications ranging from security issues of automated locking systems in homes or hotels to contactless payments. This poses more and more challenges for RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) users to raise the level of security. Problems of RFID-based devices often involve limited access to computing resources or persistent memory, which is associated with the low cost of the devices and their wide range of applications. The subject of this research is the comparative analysis of the power of communication signals between reader and transponder and reader and attacker. Measurement results were quantified, and the signal was compared for two types of modulations: ASK (Amplitude-Shift Keying) and PSK (Phase-Shift Keying), presenting their readings in the form of contrast histograms based on Fourier transforms. Based on the readings obtained, a security method was proposed based on an algorithm that allows 100% detection of attempted attacks on RFID devices based on the signal power emitted by the transponder to the reader. The conditions under which the effectiveness of the method is possible were also determined based on experiments for IoT devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid evolution of digital payments, particularly mobile wallets, has transformed the financial landscape in India. Driven by technological advancements, increased smartphone penetration, and government initiatives, ewallets have become a popular alternative to traditional payment methods. This paper explores the rise of e-wallets in India, emphasising their role in enhancing convenience, speed, and accessibility for consumers. The COVID-19 pandemic further accelerated the shift towards digital payments, with contactless transactions becoming necessary in the era of social distancing. This transformation is marked by diverse digital wallets, including open, closed, and semi-closed wallets catering to specific user needs. The study also highlights the competitive market dynamics and regulatory frameworks that have fostered trust and security in e-wallet adoption. The findings underscore the importance of continuous innovation in the payment ecosystem, as financial institutions and technology providers adapt to evolving consumer behaviors and market trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the rapid growth of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions in India from 2016 to 2024, focusing on both transaction volume and value. UPI, introduced by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has transformed the digital payment landscape by enabling real-time, bank-to-bank transfers. The adoption of UPI grew exponentially, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, which accelerated the shift to contactless payments. From a modest start in 2016, with 2.65 million transactions and a value of ₹893.07 crores, UPI has witnessed continuous growth in both volume and value. By 2024, UPI transactions are projected to exceed 108 billion in volume and ₹1,57,88,817.25 crores in value annually. This growth trajectory highlights the platform's expanding integration across various sectors and its increasing role in facilitating high-value transactions. The paper identifies key drivers of UPI's growth, including digitalization, government policy, mobile penetration, and the platform's ease of use, along with a comparison of growth phases across the years. UPI's progression from a peer-to-peer transfer tool to a comprehensive infrastructure for retail, government, and business payments reflects its transformative impact on India's financial ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to research the creation and development of modern electronic payment system, to conduct the dynamics of creation of payment cards and POS terminals, to tell how the first payment relations between the buyer and the seller were born in ancient times, how people bought goods for themselves, and what methods they used. This article also reveals what modern payment systems are currently offered for modern business and informs about the emergence of the National Bank of Ukraine and its creation of the PROSTIR payment system. The National Bank of Ukraine also did not forget about entrepreneurs, and for them it created acquiring, which enables entrepreneurs to immediately receive money for their services from clients on their account and for customers to pay, as it is convenient for them, and for many nowadays, it is payment by card or using the NFC system. What modern payment systems are used by customers and how to use them -this question has also been highlighted. What are these electronic payment systems anyway? An example is given of the development of an ordinary watch, which nowadays allows you to pay for goods by means of cashless payments. How people's lives have changed with the beginning of quarantine and wartime, and how modern payment systems helped and still help to make payments even at home, that is, they have their own personal bank, on their mobile device-this is another question which is paid attention to. The payment systems which are used as transfers between countries, allowing to transfer and receive funds abroad, have been listed. Banks are also interested in the use of payment systems by their customers in order to slightly reduce the load on their branches, and transfer even more payment transactions through contactless payments. But the main opponents of modern payment systems, which are accustomed to traditional calculations, without the use of electronic systems, have been given. The advantages and disadvantages of modern payment systems have been determined. Proposals have been given to reduce or completely eliminate shortcomings so that electronic payment systems are secure, fast, convenient to use in any conditions and for any category of the population. The future of payment systems of Ukraine and the world depends on the efficiency of eliminating shortcomings and modernization of existing payment systems for a wider range of non-cash payments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effects of the digitalization process on the job satisfaction of employees in participation banks. During the pandemic period, technological efforts that allow banking transactions to be carried out contactless and remotely have accelerated, and suitable financial products have been put into service. Participation banks have swiftly adapted to the digitalization activities observed in the banking sector, much like their counterparts. By offering digital products that adhere to Islamic principles, customers can remotely and contactlessly conduct their banking activities. This transformation has had an impact on the employees of participating banks. The study examines the effects of digitalization on the work lives of employees in participating banks through the administration of a survey. Considering the demographic characteristics of the workplace, the job satisfaction levels of employees have been measured. The effect of digitalization on the job satisfaction of employees was also measured by regression analysis. In the findings, internal and external satisfaction with digitalization were measured. According to the measurement results, it was found that digitalization positively increases the job satisfaction of employees in participation banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding consumers' intention of using contactless logistics technology is necessary for logistics service providers to make value-added business strategies in the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous studies have suggested that multiple factors shall be considered when investigating the intention, but few have attempted to comprehensively explain the causality of the intention. To bridge this gap, this study develops a Genetic Algorithm (GA)-based structure learning method and constructs a Copula-Bayesian Network (Copula-BN) upon questionnaire survey data to explore the causation of the intention. Based on the derived Copula-BN, we identify the key factors that contribute to the intention and reveal the causal relations along the main branch composed of those factors. Several findings provide theoretical and practical insights into the consumer-technology interaction under the pandemic context. Besides, this study demonstrates that the structure of the Copula-BN is rational and reasonable, which provides a solid basis for investigating the causality of the intention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The key objective of this research is to gain a deeper understanding of the factors associated with pain of paying and to extend knowledge of the consequences. • Using survey data collected among a large group of Dutch consumers, we find that electronic payments hurt less than cash payments. • This holds especially for contactless payments and iDEAL payments, a frequently used online payment method in the Netherlands. • On average, cash is perceived to be most helpful in preventing overspending, whereas contactless payments are the least helpful. • It is important that policymakers develop tools that help consumers in averting overspending when utilizing electronic payment methods, particularly contactless ones. The key objective of this research is to gain a deeper understanding of the factors associated with pain of paying and to extend knowledge of the consequences. Using rich consumer survey data on the Netherlands, we find that electronic payments – both online and offline – hurt less than cash payments. This holds especially for contactless payments and iDEAL payments, a frequently used online payment method in the Netherlands, and for older people in particular but not for teenagers. Furthermore, the perceived pain of paying is positively related to the price of the product or service and slightly lower for an outing compared to grocery shopping. In addition, the pain is relatively high for individuals that are likely to value money more, such as people who find it hard to make ends meet with their income. On average, cash is perceived to be most helpful in preventing overspending, whereas contactless payments are the least helpful. The lower the perceived pain of paying contactless is in comparison to the pain associated with other payment methods, the lower its perceived usefulness in preventing overspending. Moreover, the intensity of use of contactless payments is negatively correlated with the relative pain of paying contactless, which suggests that people try to avoid the pain of paying. As the usage of cash is declining, it is important that policymakers develop tools that help consumers in averting overspending when utilizing electronic payment methods, particularly contactless ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While a body of knowledge on contactless payment acceptance exists, a comprehensive understanding of the core motivations underpinning such acceptance, particularly in developing countries, is lacking in the literature. This study identified the predictors for contactless payment acceptance in Malaysia by constructing a Contactless Payment Acceptance model using the Technology Readiness Index 2.0 and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 models. Employing a cross-sectional research design, this study utilized survey research as its primary method, administered self-reporting questionnaires through online channels, and garnered 434 valid responses. Structured Equation Modeling identified perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, lack of awareness, and discomfort as the most influential factors affecting customers' acceptance of contactless payment systems, with an R-squared value of 71.2%. These results have implications for service providers and can guide future research endeavors, thus facilitating the development and implementation of effective strategies to encourage wider adoption of contactless payment systems among individuals in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The book "Technology application in aviation, tourism and hospitality: recent developments and emerging issues" edited by Azizul Hassan & Nor Aida Abdul Rahman explores the impact of technology on the fields of aviation, tourism, and hospitality. Divided into four parts, the book covers topics such as technology strategies, recent developments in technology application, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and future research directions. The book provides insights into how technology is transforming these sectors, as well as the opportunities and challenges that arise. It is a valuable resource for industry professionals, researchers, policymakers, and students in these fields. [Extracted from the article]

The article is a book review of "FinTech: Finance, Technology, and Regulation" by Ross Buckley, Douglas Arner, and Dirk Zetzsche. The book provides a comprehensive exploration of fintech, covering its technical aspects, legal and regulatory dimensions, and socio-economic implications. It offers an analytical framework that identifies the shaping forces, ecosystem players, and risks associated with fintech. The book also discusses the role of infrastructure in digital financial transformation and highlights the importance of inclusion and sustainability in fintech. While the book is comprehensive, it could have provided more analysis on the relationships between fintech and other legal disciplines and expanded its analysis of data regulation in fintech. Overall, the book is a valuable resource for academics, practitioners, and students interested in fintech. [Extracted from the article]

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RFID (radio frequency identification) is a progressively adopted technology in today's automated world. Wireless technologies have enabled contactless payments, tracking, identifying, and many more features in a system that can be introduced to build a smart environment. This work overviews the usage of the IoT (Internet of Things) platform for tracking passengers and enabling online payments through wireless sensors and RFID technology in Chennai Suburban Railways. The tracking system consists of an RFID reader that can locate and track passive as well as mobile objects attached with passive RFID tags. The proposed system incorporates the installation of RFID readers at every entrance and exit of the railway station, and every passenger carries their own RFID tags. This not only enables online payments for passengers but also helps the government in tracking the crowd for demand monitoring. The new methodology creates a digital workspace and enforces lawful safety regulations both for the administration and the consumers. A prototype of the proposed system is implemented in real-time to understand the workings of the system. Data collection is done through RFID tags that act as transit cards and an analysis for consumer demand is done using the DBSCAN (Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Application with Noise) algorithm with a Randomized KD-tree for the analysis of spatial and temporal patterns. A new algorithm, the iDBSCAN (improved Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Application with Noise) algorithm is proposed for faster performance on the datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the acceptance of digital banking services such as online payment and banking apps. As bank clients become more likely to use online services and contactless payment, the amount of consumer data available for banks' digitalization strategies has increased. This acceleration in digital banking has placed a spotlight on retail banks' efforts to protect personal data. Bank staff are on the frontlines of both protecting personal data and communicating their banks' efforts in this respect to maintain consumer trust. Our study aimed to answer the following question: How did the sudden increase in digitalization during the pandemic affect bank staff's capabilities in protecting personal data? In a two-stage qualitative study, we collected empirical data on bank staff's data protection efforts during accelerated digitalization. Analyzing our findings from the perspective of technological mediation theory, which focuses on the relationships between technologies, practices, and social arrangements, we found that in banking platformization, bank staff are disempowered in supporting clients, who are responsibilized for protecting themselves from fraud. Competitive pressures push retail banks into using client data in ways beyond sector norms, endangering the contextual integrity of data flows. Further, our findings show that digitalization presents bank clients with new risks, of which they are informed only after changing their banking practices, and it may be difficult to return to former arrangements. The application of mediation theory, combined with contextual integrity theory, clarified the shifting positions of different digital technology users in the infrastructural network of platformized banking and allowed for an in-depth analysis of conflicting interests. By clarifying these interests, difficulties were identified that need to be addressed in public policy and digital innovation projects to prevent loss of trust among bank clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly altered consumer behavior. The significant influence of COVID-19 pandemic on consumption has been documented in an increasing amount of literature; however, limited focus has been placed on how consumer spending decisions differ depending on whether they employ contactless or contact payment methods under COVID-19 and normal conditions. The results of this study, which used a laboratory experiment carried out in the northern part of China, demonstrate that: (1) consumers' intentions to spend more money when using contactless payments than when they use contact payments; (2) disgust and negative contamination act as mediating factors on the relationship between the degree of contact and consumer spending intention; and (3) COVID-19 moderates this mediating effect. This study concludes by discussing its theoretical contributions and managerial implications, alongside limitations and future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: There is always a need to discover how a paradox between a customer's desire for a more personalized experience and their privacy and security concerns would shape their intention to continue using contactless payment methods. However, personalization–privacy paradox has not been well-covered over the area of contactless payment. Therefore, this study aims to empirically examine the impact of personalization–privacy paradox on the customers' continued intention (CIN) to use contactless payment. Design: /methodology/approach – The empirical part of the current study was conducted in Saudi Arabia by collecting the primary data using online questionnaire from a convenience sample size of 297 actual users of contactless payment methods. Findings: Based on structural equation modeling, personalization and privacy invasion were approved to significantly impact perceived value of information disclosure (PVD). Strong causal associations were confirmed between perceived severity, structural assurance and response cost with privacy invasion. Finally, both PVD and privacy invasion significantly predict CIN. Research limitations/implications: There are other important factors (i.e. technology interactivity, technology readiness, social influence, trust, prior experience, etc.) were not tested in the current study. Therefore, future studies would pay more attention regarding the impact of these factors. The current study data were also collected using a convenience sample of actual users of contactless payment methods. Therefore, there is a concern regarding the generalizability of the current study results to other kind of customers who have not used contactless payment. Originality/value: This study has integrated both personalization–privacy paradox and protection motivation theory in one model. The current study holds value in providing a new and complete picture of the inhibitors and enablers of customers' CIN to use contactless payment, including new types of inhibitors. Furthermore, personalization–privacy paradox has not been fully examined over the related area of Fintech and contactless payment in general. Therefore, this study was able to extend the theoretical horizon personalization–privacy paradox to new area (i.e. contactless payment) and new cultural context (Saudi Arabia). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the emergence and growing popularity of Financial Technology (FinTech) in the global financial ecosystem. It highlights the benefits of FinTech for both consumers and businesses, such as improved financial services and reduced operational expenses. However, it also acknowledges the limitations and concerns associated with FinTech adoption, including privacy and security issues. The article presents five research papers that explore various aspects of the "dark side" of FinTech, such as psychological factors influencing adoption, negative aspects from the perspective of developers, and risks and barriers to adoption. The authors call for further research to better understand the barriers and ethical considerations of FinTech adoption. [Extracted from the article]

The spread of COVID‐19 outbreak has promoted truck‐drone delivery from trials to commercial applications in end‐to‐end contactless solutions. To fully integrate truck‐drone delivery in contactless solutions, we introduce the robust traveling salesman problem with a drone, in which a drone makes deliveries and returns to the truck that is moving on its route under uncertainty. The challenge is to find, for each customer location in truck‐drone routing, an assignment to minimize the expected makespan. Apart from the complexity of this problem, the risk of synchronization failure associated with uncertain travel time should be also considered. The problem is first formulated as a robust model, and a novel efficient frontier heuristic is proposed to solve this model. By coupling the implicit adaptive weighting with epsilon‐constraint methods, the heuristic generates a series of scalarized single‐objective problems, where the goal is to minimize expected makespan under the constraint of synchronization risk. The experiment results show that the robust (near‐)optimal solutions offer a considerable reduction in risk, yet only hint at a small increase in makespan. The heuristic in the present study is effective to construct approximations of Pareto frontier and allows for assignment decisions in a priori or a posteriori manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the development of digitalization processes of banking in Ukraine. The results of the analysis allow us to state that the development of the Internet and the increase in its coverage area of Ukrainian households have a positive effect on the digital development of domestic banking institutions. The development of the Internet, in turn, during 2019-2023 ensured a stable predominance of the total volume of non-cash transactions over cash transactions with bank cards. In addition, digitalization in synergy with the development of the Internet has significantly changed the essence of the relationship between banks and customers, which is manifested in the growth and predominance of non-cash transactions over cash, the emergence of modern contactless payment services and the development of Internet banking to simplify communication between customers and banks. The comparison of Internet banking services of the largest domestic banking institutions, carried out as part of the research covered in the article, allows us to assert the significant development of these services both in terms of their functionality and the scope of services offered, as well as in terms of the degree of security of client data and card transactions. The above outline gives reasons to assert the relevance of further research in the field of digitization of banking institutions of Ukraine, in particular in terms of the influence of modern digital processes on the development of individual banking services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant shift in support of digital has been seen in the financial services industry. Numerous opportunities in the area of digital financial services have arisen as a result of this change. The purpose of this paper is to provide a broad picture of the contactless payment environment, drawing insights gained and addressing challenges and possibilities for the Indian mobile payments ecosystem in order to propel this vibrant and valued sector. The primary aim of this paper is to examine the future possibilities of the Unified Payment Interface and evaluate a comparative analysis between Public and Private sector banks performance in UPI. UPI's turnaround can be linked to a variety of revolutionary headwinds, including the presence of a robust infrastructure, switching expectations of customers, foresighted government actions, and technological breakthroughs. The future may see a realignment of ecosystem participants' roles and a consolidation of market players for better Financial Literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a compilation of research articles and studies that examine the role of live streaming e-commerce in influencing consumer purchase intentions. The articles cover various factors that impact consumer behavior, including interactivity, trust, perceived value, impulse buying, and the influence of celebrities and influencers. The studies also explore the effects of visual merchandising, website characteristics, emotions, and social media on consumer attitudes and purchase intentions. Overall, this research provides valuable insights into the strategies and mechanisms behind live streaming e-commerce and its potential impact on consumer behavior. [Extracted from the article]

This research article examines the use of quantitative methods in decision-making processes in public industrial sector companies in Iraq. The findings indicate that these companies do not currently utilize quantitative methods, highlighting the need for a central supporting unit to implement these methods. The article emphasizes the importance of quantitative methods in making objective economic decisions and reducing uncertainty in local markets. It also discusses the challenges faced by these companies and suggests the involvement of experts in management sciences and economics to overcome these challenges. The article concludes by recommending the establishment of training programs and specialized technical departments to improve decision-making. [Extracted from the article]

Contactless hospitality services are an expensive endeavor with an uncertain return on investment. This study explores these services from the perspective of hotel guests' willingness to pay (WTP). To this end, 10 discrete choice experiments were conducted on 1,939 Chinese hotel guests to test a hybrid choice model. The findings indicate that hotel guests' WTP is influenced by hotel attributes, hotel scale, customer demographics, travel-related variables, technology readiness, and health concerns. Generally, there is significant heterogeneity in the WTP for different contactless amenities, such as for contactless room entrance, contactless payment system, contactless elevator service, robotic services, a smart room, and contactless front desk services. This study contributes to the knowledge on technology implementation in the hospitality industry and the WTP for hotel amenities. Furthermore, it guides hotel practitioners to invest smartly and rationally in contactless services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contactless bank card is a replica of the old fashion payment methods. The contactless card saves the customer a lot of time and effort because the cardholder can tap the card on the card reader instead of carrying a massive amount of cash or memorizing a long password. The transaction will be done in a few seconds, which is a magnificent technique for a very rush and speedy world like this. However, because the contactless card does not require a PIN or signature, it is vulnerable to different types of attacks, and the card can be used by every single person who has the card, even if they are not the real cardholder. Nevertheless, for each new problem, there is a unique solution. Hence this paper presents an innovative way to overcome this problem by embedding a fingerprint sensor into the contactless card to add an extra level of security by creating a virtual environment giving a contactless card and using a minutiae-based algorithm for fingerprint recognition in this contactless card. The work is evaluated based on accuracy using two metrics, false acceptance rate (FAR) and false rejection rate (FRR), algorithm's matching time, and transaction time. This work shows a good result regarding the transaction time and the possibility of integrating the fingerprint into the contactless card. It displays how fingerprint image quality and features affect fingerprint authentication results. However, it also shows that minutiae-based techniques are not adequate when the dataset is relatively small and has data with low-quality and/or noisy data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Amid the COVID-19 contamination, people are bound to use contactless FinTech payment services. Because of restrictions on physical movement and avoidance of touching physical money, people willingly choose mobile payment, resulting in enormous growth in FinTech payment service industries. Because of this, this study aims to examine the effect of factors affecting Gen X and Millennials users to use FinTech payment services. Design/methodology/approach: The authors used 328 responses collected through convenience sampling of Indian users aged between 26 and 57 years in the Delhi-NCR region who are users of FinTech payment services. Findings: The authors' findings verified that in India, perceived COVID-19 risk, perceived severity for COVID, individual mobility, subjective norms, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness have statistically significant impacts on FinTech payment services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Structural equation modelling was used to study the proposed research model. Overall, the model predicted 76.9 % of the variation in intention to use FinTech payment services by the abovesaid variables by Indian users during a pandemic. Practical implications: This study will provide valuable insight to all FinTech service providers and stakeholders in planning and designing the concerned policy. It will be able to draw the attention of users more. Originality/value: This research added a valuable theory to the existing technology adoption model (TAM) theory. It demonstrated the utility of the above variables in adopting and using FinTech payment services, which will help service providers to develop future strategies because of the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]