Amazon’s fulfilment centre could be in Sydney … Mastercard unveils fingerprint scanning credit card … Masters sites sale cleared

By Dominic Powell and Emma Koehn

As Australians wait hungrily for more updates on online retailer Amazon’s debut down under, Fairfax reports its giant 93,000 square metre fulfilment centre might be landing in Sydney.

Industrial property agents speaking to Fairfax have claimed a “deal has been done” with Amazon and the Goodman’s Group for a warehouse in the Oakdale Industrial Estate in Eastern Creek, Sydney.

Part of the estate is already occupied by DHL, a shipping and logistics company that Amazon could use to help ship its products.

The speculation only refers to Amazon’s fulfilment warehouse, with no news on where or if the retailer will establish a main headquarters.

Mastercard looks to fights bank fraud with fingerprint scanning credit card

Financial services company Mastercard is experimenting with ways to make cashless payments more secure, including by introducing fingerprint scanners on users’ credit cards.

ZDnet reports Mastercard is beginning to roll out trials of such cards in South Africa. User’s fingerprints are registered with the card via a bank and the “template” is then stored on the card. When paying, users place their fingers on the scanner and if authenticated, the payment is approved.

“Whether unlocking a smartphone or shopping online, the fingerprint is helping to deliver additional convenience and security. It’s not something that can be taken or replicated and will help our cardholders get on with their lives knowing their payments are protected,” said president of enterprise risk and security at Mastercard Ajay Bhalla in a statement.

The company believes such technology will “detect and prevent fraud, increase approval rates, reduce operational costs and foster customer loyalty”.

Woolworths’ sale of Masters sites cleared

Woolworths will be able to finally seal its exit from the Masters hardware business after it announced this morning it had reached an agreement in confidential arbitration with its joint venture partner for the chain, Lowe’s. 

In 2016 Lowe’s took issues with the Woolworths decision to sell its Masters sites to Home Consortium in a deal worth $750 million, accusing the company of acting in bad faith.

Legal action from Lowe’s delayed the completion of the sale deal, but on Friday Woolworths said it will now be able to “conclude the proposed transaction with Home Consortium without the consent of Lowe’s”, in a deal that will see Lowe’s sell its shares in the joint venture company it owned with Woolworths.

Never miss a story: sign up to SmartCompany’s free daily newsletter and find our best stories on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.