PARTNER NEWS: A product demo that shows how brands can use Tappy’s wearable payment technology to let customers add their preferred payment card to a wide range of traditional watches, key fobs, rings and other battery-free devices is now available to view in the NFCW Knowledge Centre... More
Smartwatch
HID Global adds employee IDs to NFC wearables
PARTNER NEWS: HID Global has announced that employee ID card issuers can now use its Seos digital credential technology to let staff use smart watches, watchbands, rings and other devices to gain access to buildings, log in to PCs and cloud applications, make payments at vending machines, and more... More
Two in five wrist-worn wearables now come with NFC
While health applications continue to be the main consumer adoption driver for wrist-worn wearables, support for mobile payments “is also starting to become a mainstay,” according to new research from IDC... More
Queensland to roll out state-wide open loop ticketing for trains, buses and ferries
Train and bus ticketing via phones and plastic to be tested in regional Queensland — ABC News — “The new system allows train, bus and ferry rides to be paid for with the swipe of a credit or debit card, smartphone wallet or smartwatch… The project in Queensland comes with a A$371m (US$257m) price tag, but unlike systems interstate and overseas, it will take in regional cities including Cairns, Townsville, Mackay and the Gold Coast.”
TNS reports on consumer attitudes to wearable payments
TNS report shows alternative and cashless payments adoption at an inflection point with security a concern to wider usage — TNS — “44% of respondents are willing to make a payment using a wearable device like a ring or a bracelet; just under two-thirds (65%) expressed that security concerns would stop them from using a wearable device to make a payment; Australians are most concerned about security (68%) versus Americans (64%) and Britons (63%); more than half of male smartwatch owners have used it to make a payment.”
KBC reports on take-up of non-banking services following wearables payments trial expansion
Belgian bank KBC has reported on the take-up of the non-banking services such as car parking and transit ticketing that it has been adding to its mobile banking app since launching it last summer... More
Garmin includes NFC payments in upmarket Marq smartwatches
Garmin unveils the Marq Collection: a series of lifestyle inspired connected tool watches, crafted to champion the life you live — Garmin — “The Marq Collection uses select materials, meticulously crafted and designed with the utmost attention to quality that help guarantee performance in the most demanding of environments… Each watch is built from titanium, which is lightweight yet incredibly strong. Combined with a domed sapphire crystal for ultimate scratch resistance, this creates the solid core for all Marq watches.”
NXP powers NFC payments in Sony Wena smart watch strap
PARTNER NEWS: Sony’s Wena watch strap, launched in the UK this week and designed to bring smartwatch features to traditional mechanical timepieces, uses NFC hardware and the mWallet 2GO full service mobile wallet platform from NXP to power its contactless payments feature... More
Discover adds support for Garmin Pay
Discover cardmembers can now make payments on the move with Garmin Pay — Discover — “Garmin Pay, which is powered by FitPay, is available on Garmin’s latest active lifestyle smartwatches… Discover cardmembers can use Garmin Pay at any merchant retail location that accepts both Discover and contactless Near Field Communication (NFC) transactions. Once a payment card is added to Garmin’s virtual wallet — which can be done through the Garmin Connect mobile app — users can tap and pay with just a few quick touches.”
Louis Vuitton unveils luxury NFC smartwatch
Louis Vuitton’s new Wear OS luxury smartwatch fully revealed — PhoneArena — “Besides the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 3100 processor, the newest platform for smartwatches, Louis Vuitton Tambour Horizon sports a 1.2-inch circular Amoled display (390 x 390 pixels resolution), 1GB RAM and 8GB internal memory… The smartwatch comes with NFC (near field communication) technology that will allow users to make payments on the fly using Google Pay.”
NFC Forum unveils technical specification that lets IoT devices use a single antenna for both NFC and wireless charging
The NFC Forum has released a new candidate technical specification that is designed to enable a single antenna in an IoT device to be used to manage both NFC communications and wireless charging... More
ABN Amro rolls out wearable payments on rings, watches and bracelets
Customers of Dutch bank ABN Amro can now connect a wide range of Mastercard-certified wearables to their bank account and use them to make both standard, low value contactless payments and also, by entering a PIN at the point of sale, higher value transactions beyond the contactless limit as well... More
Kate Spade unveils fashion smartwatch with NFC payments
Kate Spade’s second Wear OS watch gets a serious tech upgrade — Engadget — “The Scallop Smartwatch 2 packs GPS, NFC and heart rate sensors onboard — all things its predecessor didn’t have. But it still retains the scalloped edging around the face like before, and further incorporated the pattern to the edges of this generation’s straps.”
Mercedes partners with Garmin for NFC smartwatch
Garmin collaborates with Daimler to bring connected features to Mercedes-Benz vehicles with the Vivoactive 3 GPS smartwatch — Garmin — “In addition to providing heart rate data and a driver’s stress level, the Vivoactive 3 GPS smartwatch will be exclusively modified for Mercedes-Benz customers with custom branded materials and display screens. The Garmin Vivoactive 3 is one of the company’s flagship smartwatches and is packed with features that include built-in indoor and outdoor sports apps, smart notification alerts delivered right to the wrist, and a contactless payment solution to make secure payments from the watch thanks to Garmin Pay.”
Tory Burch unveils smartwatch with NFC payments support
Tory Burch launches its Classic Gigi as the brand’s first touchscreen smartwatch — Tory Burch — “This new piece is a state-of-the-art smartwatch that balances fashion and function with features that include heart-rate tracking, swimproof functionality, payment methods, untethered GPS and more… Powered with Wear OS by Google and Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 SoC, the new ToryTrack Gigi Touchscreen Smartwatch is compatible with both iPhone and Android phones.”
Misfit launches smartwatch with NFC payments support
Hello Misfit Vapor 2 — Misfit — “Vapor 2 provides users with an elevated smartwatch experience boasting new features such as two different size options, new and improved heart rate tracking, standalone GPS, and NFC support… Misfit Vapor 2 launches on the heels of and is powered by the new Wear OS by Google.”
Fossil launches sports watch with NFC payments
Watchmaker Fossil has added a Wear OS smartwatch to its range of NFC-enabled wearable payments devices... More
ST unveils turnkey payment solution for smartwatches and wearables
PARTNER NEWS: STMicroelectronics has partnered with wearable transactions specialist Fidesmo to provide smartwatch and wearable device makers with a single payment system-on-chip (SoC) solution that comes with built-in support for Mastercard payments... More
Armani launches Wear OS smartwatch with NFC payments
Armani Exchange Connected is the company’s first smartwatch with Wear OS, NFC, heart-rate, more — 9to5Google — “The Armani Exchange Connected is the first touchscreen watch from the company… The watch offers features such as NFC, heart-rate tracking, a swimproof design, and built-in GPS.”
ANZ lets customers use smartphones and smartwatches to withdraw cash from ATMs across Australia
ANZ launches smartphone ATM access in an Australian first — ANZ — “ANZ today announced a new way for customers to access cash on the go, using only their smartphone or watch at 2,400 ATMs across Australia… There are more than one million ANZ customers currently using digital wallets loaded with an ANZ-issued card. Between October 2017 and August 2018, ANZ customers made more than 57m mobile payment transactions worth more than A$1.83bn. This was an increase of more than 150% in transaction numbers from the same time a year earlier.”