News from the Wire

First ever contactless payments wristwatch

Thursday, December 08, 2011 — 16:46:19 (EST)

London, Nov. 29, 2011 -– The saying that ‘time is money’ has become a reality with the launch of Watch2pay, the UK’s first ever prepaid contactless wristwatch, enabled with MasterCard® PayPass™ contactless technology to allow consumers to simply ‘Tap & Go™’ to make fast, secure payments for up to £15 within seconds.

MasterCard has worked closely with watch manufacturer LAKS and issuer Vincento to bring this latest innovation to British consumers, who will now be able to tap their wristwatch against a contactless reader to make a payment at more than 70,000 retailers in the UK, without needing to enter a PIN.

Matt Lanford, Head of Prepaid at MasterCard Europe, said: “Since we introduced contactless to the world nearly a decade ago, we’ve been driving innovation in Tap & Go payments, with nearly 100 million PayPass cards and devices now issued globally. We’re maintaining that momentum by working with Vincento and LAKS to bring together prepaid and contactless payments in a wristwatch for the very first time in the UK, offering consumers a safe, simple and smart way to pay for everyday items.”

Contactless wristwatches are already in use in Turkey, Poland and a number of markets in Asia. Watch2pay builds upon the growing demand for contactless payments and prepaid cards in the UK, which respectively offer consumers greater security than cash and allow them to segment and set budgets for different spending needs. This is the first time in the UK that a wristwatch has been enabled with the payment technology to meet both these functional needs.

Consumers can purchase a LAKS wristwatch online at www.watch2pay.co.uk. It comes with a reloadable MasterCard prepaid card which is not linked to a bank account or any line of credit and therefore can help users budget more effectively and avoid getting into debt. The card is valid up to two years and accepted at over 32 million retail locations worldwide.

Lucas Scheybal, CEO of LAKS, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with MasterCard and Vincento on this innovative launch, bringing Watch2Pay to the UK market. As watches are incredibly popular as well as personal to each individual, they are ideal for this Tap & Go technology. We are thoroughly excited to be bringing this unique design to the UK market, especially with the support of MasterCard.”

Suresh Vaghjiani, Head of Product at Vincento, explains: “Watch2pay is all about speed and convenience and we’re genuinely excited to be working on this project. The new Watch2pay PayPass watch has an online account management facility, which can help consumers keep track of their everyday spending. These wristwatches also offer a number of great benefits to retailers such as fast transaction times which equate to shorter queues, ideal for environments where speed is essential.”

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Source: Company press release.