The Future Is Wearable

Watches, rings and even sunnies take tap-and-go to the next level.

- Richard Scott

Australia loves a good tap-and-go. In fact, we make the highest number of contactless payments in the world. A recent Reserve Bank survey found 85% of us hold a contactless card, with tap-and-go accounting for 66% of all card payments made Down Under. But what happens when the exertions of digging out that card from your wallet become too much to bear?

Welcome to wearables – watches, fitness trackers, wristbands and jewellery that let you pay over the counter using the same pay-pass technology as your contactless card.

Currently only 16% of Australian consumers own a smartwatch and 20% own some wearable device, according to research from RFi Group. But that could all change as Aussie banks join the party.

In the past year Westpac, Bankwest and Heritage have all offered a wearable payment option (wristbands, rings) linked to a customer’s everyday account. Could we be looking at the future of banking?

“It’s an introduction to the future, yes. But it’s only phase one,” says Joe Hanlon, publisher of tech comparison site WhistleOut.

All you need for contactless payment is an NFC (near-field communication) chip and somewhere to store it, says Hanlon.

“But the problem with our existing electronic devices – your smartphone, your smartwatch – is the sheer amount of effort we must put into just keeping them alive. A [Bankwest] Halo ring, for instance, is waterproof, you can’t drop it, you don’t have to charge it – it’s passive. You just tap your knuckle and go,” says Hanlon. “That’s really quite cool.”