The prepaid smart wristband can be used for payment and access in a variety of everyday environments.

With a dramatic increase in the desire for secure cashless solutions from event organizers, Rittenhouse and G&D are combining their expertise to deliver a full service solution for entry and tap-and-pay wristbands and other wearable form factors. This new offering allows consumers to leave their wallet at home and still have full entry and payment capabilities in a convenient, water and weather proof wristband. It can be a companion device to an existing account or a standalone option with prepaid funds for use at concerts or sporting events, for example. Prepaid funds, coupons or tickets can be one time use or reloadable, giving greater flexibility to secure transactions with any contactless payment terminal.

"We are excited to be working with G&D to drive this fast evolving space in the US market. G&D's innovation and security capabilities are second-to-none," says Todd A. Wrubel, CEO of Rittenhouse Payment Solutions. "By bringing together G&D's product development and security expertise and Rittenhouse's prepaid solutions and channels we will fulfil a market demand for wearables and challenge the prepaid market."

"Enabling cashless event participation in a fun and secure way is a great extension of our business in EMV cards and mobile payments and banking," commented Scott Marquardt, President of G&D's US Mobile Security organization. "Working with Rittenhouse means that event organizers will have more options for payment and access - and a better overall experience for consumers."

As a leader in the smart wearables market, G&D has already delivered secure elements for the Swatch Bellamy and Samsung Gear smart watches, as well as payment technology for the Jie Pai smart wristbands. The Fit Pay platform, in combination with G&D's capabilities in embedded secure operating systems, applications and credentials lifecycle management, brings a complete end-to-end portfolio to wearable device partners. The new partnership with Rittenhouse extends G&D's expertise to the event-based market segment.