MasterCard is looking to bring payments to a wide array of fitness bands, smart watches and other wearable devices through a partnership with consumer electronics and financial software startup Coin.
Atlas Wearables, which designs advanced fitness trackers, Moov, a personal fitness coach on your wrist, and Omate, maker of fashionable smartwatches, are the first set of companies working with MasterCard and Coin to implement payment technology in their products.
The move follows MasterCard's announcement in October of an extension of its Digital Enablement Service (MDES) to turn any consumer gadget, accessory or wearable into a tokenised payment device.
“We are adding payment functionality to items that consumers are already using - fitness bands, jewellery, clothing, watches,” says Sherri Haymond, SVP, digital payments, MasterCard. “This makes the products more useful for consumers and enhances the value device manufacturers can deliver to their customers. Coin complements that approach and enables us to reach an expanded set of device partners.”
Coin will provide hardware and software technology that is integrated with MDES, providing a simple, financially compliant backend integration layer for manufacturers to quickly embed payment functionality into their consumer products.
Peter Li, co-founder & CEO, Atlas Wearables, says: "Purchases enabled on Atlas devices are useful whether someone is taking a jog outside or lifting weights at the health club. The simple integration offered by MasterCard and Coin means we can put payments on our roadmap without any distractions to our business. Everyone wins."