“Quontic Bank announced today that it has introduced the first ever tap-to-pay mobile payment ring to the U.S. market. Quontic is an innovative, digital-first, and customer centric bank on a mission to redefine how a bank and its customers conduct business.”

“Timex Group has officially launched a range of watches and watch straps that let the wearer make tokenized payments at any merchant equipped to accept Visa contactless payments. The new Timex Pay collection includes a range of watches that each come with a contactless payment chip embedded into the strap. A selection of leather, fabric and silicone watch straps that can be used to add Timex Pay to an existing watch is also available, either direct from Timex or from Amazon . Owners use a Timex Pay branded mobile app and a Timex Pay clip, both developed by Tappy Technologies , to add a tokenized version of an existing payment card to their new watch or strap.”

“As retailers around the world seek ways to make it easier for consumers to shop seamlessly without touching anything, one company in Japan is betting its technology can rule them all: a smart ring that can act as a wallet and a key. MTG Co. , a Japanese health and beauty company, has started selling the “Evering,” which it envisions as a one-stop digital wallet. The chip-embedded ring, made out of zirconia, the synthetic crystal that’s sometimes used in place of diamonds in jewelry, lets people lock their door as they step out for a run as well as pay for drinks in stores.”

“Fidesmo enters Russia together with the company ISBC and reaches millions of potential users as eight leading Russian banks now offer the wearable payment service Fidesmo Pay.  The Swedish tech company continues to expand its payment service Fidesmo Pay and today enters Russia together with ISBC, which specializes in RFID devices, and eight* leading banks, all issuing Mastercard cards. Fidesmo Pay enables the banks to offer their customers a more convenient and secure way to make contactless payments, by letting them tokenize their payment card onto a wearable of their own choice.”

“RingPay by McLEAR makes payments fast, secure, and invisible with wearable technology. Users can make contactless payments of up to £45 and top up their ring by adding their preferred credit or debit card onto the RingPay app. The app allows users to track their spending in real-time, control their budgets, set automatic top-ups, respect physical distancing guidelines, and in case of loss, instantly freeze their Ring.”

“Curve’s unique position as an Over-The-Top banking platform, which allows customers to integrate all their banking cards into one, has now enabled users of some of the world’s most popular wearables to pay with any of their cards using Curve.”

“The use of passive wearable devices for payments is continuing to take off in Europe, as consumers quickly and easily integrate this relatively new payment method into their daily lives. This year’s wearable transaction figures, in comparision to 2018, showed an eightfold increase. This trend has been widely adopted over Europe as payment-enabled wearables are already available in 26 EU countries, offering over 30 different devices. In Europe, the Netherlands is at the forefront when it comes to wearable payments. A third (33%) of all wearable transactions in 2019 came from the Netherlands, followed by the United Kingdom (18%), Switzerland (8%) and Russia (7%). This includes both active wearables (with a battery) and passive wearables (without a battery), such as bracelets, rings and regular watches.”

“Tappy’s patented contactless payment chips can be embedded into virtually any fashion accessory, transforming them into payment-enabled wearables. By partnering with Mastercard, Tappy can integrate its technology platform with Mastercard Digital Enablement Service (MDES) to tokenize payment credentials when consumers use their mechanical or digital watch or wearable to make a purchase at any merchant that accepts Mastercard contactless payments.”

“Wirecard has signed a cooperation agreement with watch manufacturer Swatch for “SwatchPAY!”, a solution by which wrist watches will incorporate digital, contactless payment solutions in Switzerland and later throughout Europe.”

“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. ABN Amro is the first bank in the world to offer wearables that let customers make high value payments at the point-of-sale by using a PIN, the bank says.”

“Fashion brand Kate Spade has made a second smartwatch and this year’s offering comes with a serious tech upgrade. The Scallop Smartwatch 2 packs GPS, NFC and heart rate sensors onboard — all things its predecessor didn’t have.”

“Although the tap-and-go function is heavily utilised in Australia, less than 1 percent of contactless payments are conducted via mobile or wearable means. But that hasn’t stopped Australian financial institutions trying to make wearable payment options a “thing”. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) allows payments via Garmin smartwatches and its New Zealand subsidiary ASB Bank offers payments using the Fitbit Ionic. Similarly, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) also offers the Fitbit payments solution, while the National Australia Bank (NAB) offers both Fitbit and Garmin pay.”

“FastPay is Danske Bank’s new payment solution that lets you wear your payment chip in a wristband, on a keyring or on your watchstrap so that you can make contactless payments without having to reach for your card.”