Mobilution
January 2016
13
Wearables
The wearables industry has had a really good
year with Apple and Google at each other’s
throats to introduce the better smart watch.
This has led to wearable devices enabling
payments, with Apple allowing customers to
pay for products and services using the Apple
Watch, and Android starting to support NFC
based payment from Android Wear devices.
The year also saw Samsung launch its first
smart watch with NFC payment capability in
the form of Samsung Gear S2. Apart from the
biggies, the industry also saw small time
technology providers starting to provide
payment services, with NFC based payments
being the most loved proposition for these
players. Companies like Watch2Pay piloted
Source: http://www.businessrevieweurope.eu/finance/342/RIP-ChipPin:-Barclaycard-Glove-Leads-Way-in-Wearable-Payment-Tech
successfully payments using a specially
designed watch to make retail and transit
payments. They have even partnered with
Dubai transport authorities to allow
customers to pay for the Dubai Metro with
their technology.
Innovations in payments were not restricted
to Smart watches, with companies like Nymi
coming up with a unique wristband which
allowed payment authentication using customer’s
heart beat. MasterCard has also partnered
with specialized apparel and accessory
manufacturers to allow everyday wearables
like jackets, shirts, trousers, skirts, belts, rings
and other accessories to make payments.