More than time: watch with contactless payment function

Technologies of the payment industry contribute to the development of not only industry-specific online solutions, but also stimulate the gradual integration of payment instruments into household offline channels. We in the Wirex blockchain service team have studied cases of the introduction of contactless payment technologies into various items used by each of us in everyday life: from watches and fashion accessories to cars and drones. We present to the users of Geektimes a series of materials on the topic of household devices with a built-in contactless payment function. The first article in the series of publications is devoted to wrist watches, including both the latest developments of technological corporations and products of the Swiss classic manufacturers.

After the advent of near-field communication technology (NFC) in 2004, it became clear that NFC chips were gradually modernizing the payment industry due to their ease of deployment and reliability. Thanks to the near field communication, it became possible to carry out settlements, simply by lifting the payment device at a distance of about 10 cm from the reader. Since then, developers of wearable devices and accessories have begun to use contactless payment technology.

The official launch of sales of “smart watches” Apple Watch took place in April last year. By this time, the NFC-functionality of the wrist device was already known. Apple Watch owners have the opportunity to pay at the points of sale, bringing the watch to the NFC-terminal. NFC technology is implemented in the Apple Watch thanks to the developments of the NXP and AMS companies.


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A year after the Apple Watch entered the market, it became known that the payment functionality in Apple’s smart watches is only 5th in terms of user popularity after time tracking, fitness tracker, wearable player, and email and chat.

The fact that Samsung Gear 2 smart watches are equipped with an NFC chip became known in early September last year. Since then, the expert community has been interested in another question: will Samsung’s smart watches be connected to the Samsung Pay payment system? On July 18 of this year, Samsung announced the availability of the Samsung Pay beta for all Samsung Gear 2 users. In order to access the test version of the payment system, users need to install the latest update for the smart watch application.



In order to use the payment function, you must bring the clock to the NFC terminal, press and hold the “Back” button, select a card, and then enter the password to complete the transaction. According to the information on the developer’s official website, for security reasons, Samsung Gear 2 does not store or transmit billing information.

The emergence of NFC in the Apple Watch and Samsung Gear smart watches is logical against the background of the introduction of near-field communication technology into the iPhone and Galaxy smartphones. However, contactless functionality attracted the attention of manufacturers of classic watches, who also turned their products into payment instruments.

In March this year, the CEO of the Swiss watch manufacturer Mondaine Andre Burnheim announced a partnership with the leading global provider of software and services in the field of embedded security Oberthur Technologies. The goal is to present for the first time in Switzerland the technology of contactless payment from classic wrist watches at the expense of a special chip that is not larger than a telephone SIM card in size. The payment chip is separated from the mechanism and is attached either to the strap itself or to its latch. Because of its small size, the development will not affect the design of the Mondaine watches.

The payment giant Visa in November last year joined forces with another manufacturer of Swiss watches Swatch, with which it announced in October last year the Swatch Bellamy watch with contactless payment function.


Photo: Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek

The cost of the new Swatch development in the European market was about 90 Euro. In June of this year, this model was presented for participants and guests of the Olympics in Rio. NFC watches are named after science fiction writer Edward Bellamy , back in the 19th century, who predicted the evolution of the payment industry and the transition from cash to debit and credit cards.

Another example of the introduction of contactless payment technology is demonstrated by the Italian manufacturer of luxury goods Bulgari, who, together with MasterCard and the Internet security platform WISeKey, decided to combine contactless technologies with a classic design. According to the March press release MasterCard Bulgary, together with partners, is going to present the world's first smart mechanical luxury watch Diagono Magn @ sium. Owners of watches will have the opportunity to carry out secure transactions in more than 4 million retail outlets in 74 countries around the world, where MasterCard contactless payments can be received. The contactless functionality of Bulgari watches, including, will allow you to open the doors of cars and hotel rooms, and can also be used in accordance with the objectives of the manufacturer’s affiliate programs.



The AlfaPay wrist watches, released in the summer of 2015 by the Russian Alfa-Bank together with MasterCard, deserve special attention. You can pay using the Alfa-Bank wearable device in terminals that support the PayPass function. Transactions worth up to 1 thousand rubles do not require validation with a password or signature. The watch developer is Swiss watch2pay . The clock is tied to a smart card with a number and a CVC code, which the user can attach to any of his accounts at Alfa Bank.

According to the research company IDC, despite its flashiness, smart watches such as the Apple Watch and Android Wear will occupy only a quarter in 2016, and in 2020 only a third of the market of wearable payment devices. In the following materials, we will definitely consider other types of devices that, in addition to their main purpose, can be used for contactless purchases at points of sale.

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