Page 79 - Pay Magazine s2014

volume 8 • spring 2015
you’re puttinG me on
a samplinG oF WearaBle payments teCh and other neW Form FaCtors in development:
paypal is working closely with GooGle and sam- sunG, among other device manufacturers, to develop payments-related services for wearables technology. PayPal last year announced the PayPal app’s availability across all wearable platforms—Google’s Android Wear, Samsung’s Gear Fit devices and Pebble. The PayPal app enables users to check in and pay at stores, redeem offers and receive payment notifications, including via voice command, PayPal says. Wearables represent “a huge opportunity” for the company to create seamless, context-driven payment experiences that change the way consumers interact with mobile devices, according to Richard Mercille, a senior software engineer at PayPal.
Spain’s CaixaBank recently partnered with visa
to distribute15,000 contactless payments wristbands to its customers. Customers may link the bands to payment cards to make purchases of up to €20 by holding the band near an NFC-enabled POS terminal. (For higher-ticket purchases, users must enter the associated card’s PIN at the POS.)
China’s xiaomi and aliBaBa Group have teamed up to develop a mobile payments service for wearable technology, with plans to link the Alipay Wallet mobile app to Xiaomi’s Mi Band smart fitness bracelet for contactless payments.
Canada-based wearables startup Bionym and masterCard are testing the Bionym Nymi Band, which uses a heartbeat-monitoring wristband to authen- ticate contactless payments for Royal Bank of Canada customers. The setup process syncs the device to each user’s unique electrocardiogram, which acts as a universal passcode for activation. Bionym has further visions for the Nymi Band as a way for consumers to link to merchant loyalty programs.
BarClays in the U.K. this year plans to broadly distribute its bPay contactless payment chip to cus- tomers via free, reloadable wristbands. Interested customers may link the bands to their credit or debit cards to make payments up to £20 (US$29.50) at
any merchant equipped with a contactless payment terminal. Barclays also tested wool gloves embedded with a bPay contactless chip during the 2014 holiday season. The use case: Shoppers whose hands are laden with bags merely need one finger to tap and pay for additional items.
ameriCan express is working with fitness band maker JaWBone to add contactless payments capabilities to its upcoming Jawbone UP4 product. Users of the wrist- band, which measures calories, activity and heart rate, will be able to link an American Express card and tap
to pay at NFC-enabled POS terminals.
visa is working with pizza hut and aCCenture to develop a connected car that enables drivers to order food from their cars, including paying and notifying the restaurant of the car’s location and arrival for prompt food preparation and pickup. The service combines Visa Checkout, beacon technology and interactive voice-control technology, according to the companies.
adidas is working on incorporating NFC into its branded shoes and apparel. At SXSW in Austin, Texas, in March, Jon Werner, an adidas innovation specialist, said the company plans to incorporate NFC chips into some of its footwear products to collect data that could be used in combination with a smartphone or other device. One proposed use case: Shoppers could tap an NFC-equipped shoe with a smartphone to receive detailed product information, though no payments feature has been mentioned so far.
paybefore.com 77