Japanese credit card issuer JCB has teamed with Casio to develop Offica Watch, a combined contactless payment and office access system which is delivered over a wrist watch.
The Offica Watch contains employee ID information for access control and tracking, network authentication and cashless payment functions.
During a two month trial, 25 JCB employees will use the watch instead of the current Offica card to access offices, make purchases and carry out administrative functions.
Yuichi Momose, executive vice president and general manager of strategic market development department at JCB, says: "This watch will improve convenience and user-friendliness for the wearers, as they don't have to take something out of their pocket or purse to open a door or pay for coffee. We think this has particular advantages in environments such as manufacturing plants or amusement parks."
JCB says Offica Watch will be launched commercially early next year.
The introduction of the watch follow trials launched in January of JCB's Mobile Offica service, developed in partnership with NTT DoCoMo, which delivers the Offica access and contactless payments system over a mobile hand set.
In 2002 US m-payments firm Speedpass teamed with Timex to develop a wristwatch that transmits payment instructions to specially fitted terminals at ExxonMobil petrol stations and McDonalds restaurants.