For decades, debit and credit cards have been the consumer go-to when making payments. But this is all changing.
Juniper Research has estimated that mobile payments will rise from $35billion in 2015 to $95 billion in 2018. MasterCard expects all European stores to accept contactless payments by 2020.
Contactless payments can be made through various smart devices and more people are starting to become familiar with wearable payments. Technology is evolving at a rapid pace and is expanding year on year.
What is a Wearable Payment?
Wearable payments are essentially smart devices that store your payment information using NFC technology. They can facilitate transactions in brick-and-mortar stores, eliminating the need to dig through purses and wallets for cash and cards.
The wearables rely on knowledge-based authentication e.g. usernames, passwords and PINs to verify identity. In the future, it’s expected that the cardholder’s identity will be verified with biometrics, things like fingerprints, heart rate and iris scans.
Currently, there are a number of wearable payment devices on the market, it’s only a matter of time before nearly any device you own could be used to make payment.
One of the most popular wearable items includes the Apple watch using Apple Pay. However, additional devises are emerging, Visa recently debuted a touch payments jewellery line where pay chips are in the gold/silver finishes and straps. Additional payment devices also include; sunglasses, Nod to Pay with Google Glass, tattoos and payments at the tip of your finger.
Are you ready for wearable payments? The future is now…