The first challenge for wearable technologies – for example Google Glass or the Smart Watch – is how to integrate them into banking. Now we are starting to see banks rise to the challenge. PrivatBank, La Caixa and Westpac have all publically announced they are working with Glass. It’s amazing to see how Google Glass is able to create new value to mobile banking by further enhancing the “banking-on-the-go” experience.  

This is one example of how Google Glass can be applied to retail banking:

1. Imagine you are walking down the street or are in a store and you see an item which you like – be it a car, a house, a person passing by with beautiful shoes or someone who has mesmerising sunglasses on… anything you see, like and want to own.
2. You use your Google Glass to take a picture of this item. No one notices it or has any idea what you are doing (a little creepy!).
3. Then Google Glass – with the help of a special image recognition app – identifies this object and tells you exactly what it is: name of the item, its model name and other product information.
4. After that, your search engine immediately finds out the best price offer and retailer for this particular item in the nearby vicinity.
5. After that, all this information is integrated into your Personal Financial Management app which on-the-spot presents a snapshot of your personal finances including your “free to spend” analysis and lets you know if you can afford to purchase this item or not. It even provides you with the possibility to request money from friends and family – P2P financing. If you have the willpower, you could save this item as a goal and start saving money for it. If not, requesting a bank loan to purchase this item is possible too.

Now, imagine all this could be done without tapping, sliding and talking, which are some of the shortcomings of Google Glass today. Imagine if you could do this with just the force of your own brain. Sounds too futuristic? The solution is already available. There is a new app developed called MindRDR which enables users to control Google Glass by only using the mind and feelings.      

The idea behind it is that you add an extra piece of hardware to your Google Glass, called the Neurosky EEG Biosensor.  The sensor makes a connection with your brain and picks up the waves. Then if you focus on something, it takes a picture and shares it on Twitter or Facebook.

Admittedly the app is still pretty simple and has several limitations, but in its current form it already offers the capability to realise the earlier presented goal achieving scenario. 

In the not so distant future, expect to see great innovations with the help of MindRDR app (and others that will be hot on its heels) and Google Glass will transform the “banking-on-the-go” experience into “banking-with-the-mind”.

And surely it’s just a matter of time for the Flux Capacitor to become reality?