NEWS
NEWS
NEWS
Swatch, Visa partnership will let you tap-to-pay with upcoming Swatch Bellamy
Swiss watchmaker, Swatch SA, has teamed up with Visa Inc. and Visa Europe to let Visa cardholders in the U.S., Switzerland and Brazil pay for stuff with just a tap of the wrist using the company’s soon-to-be-launched “pay-by-the-wrist” watch, the Swatch Bellamy.
Due to go on sale in early 2016, the Swatch Bellamy contains an NFC chip and – as a result of the partnership – can be used anywhere contactless, NFC-based (near-field communications) Visa payments are already accepted.
Swatch introduced the Bellamy in October in China, where the company has partnered with China UnionPay and Bank of Communications Ltd. to enable NFC-based contactless payments in the region.
Very little is known about the Swatch Bellamy (pictured above) and as far as we can tell it looks and operates just like a traditional Swatch timepiece. So far, the company has only shared that the built-in NFC chip – hidden behind the watch’s dial – won’t draw any power from the Bellamy’s battery, giving the watch the “usual battery life of a Swatch.”
In naming its new timepiece, Swatch took inspiration from American writer Edward Bellamy who, in his 1888 book Looking Backward 2000-1887, predicted a cashless world where hard currency has been entirely replaced by the use of credit/debit cards.
This marks Swatch’s first foray into the smartwatch market and it is not the only traditional watchmaker to strike third-party partnerships to help it enter the nascent smartwatch market.
Earlier this month, luxury Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer S.A.’s collaboration with Intel Corp. and Google saw the TAG Heuer Connected go on sale in the U.S. and Fossil Group Inc., makers of the popular Fossil range of watches, announced that it would acquire wearable fitness tracker startup Misfit Inc. in an effort to expand its wearables range.
November also saw the launch of the Chronos disk, a clever accessory that – when attached to the back of a watch – turns any traditional watch into a smartwatch capable of notifications, gesture controls, and fitness tracking.
Swatch has not revealed any pricing for the Swatch Bellamy when it goes on sale early 2016.
Image via Swatch
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