Garmin and Mondaine to offer the contactless add-on with selected devices
Paying from your wearable just got a whole lot easier thanks to the launch of the Loop, a £20 case that’ll fit on a host of fitness trackers, smartwatches and smart analogue watches to enable contactless purchases.
The small, textured silicone add-on packs in a contactless chip and is designed to slide onto 22m straps or under with an opening buckle. So technically it should work with the likes of the Fitbit Alta or the Moto 360 second generation Android Wear watch.
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Like TopShop x bPay accessories and Lyle and Scott’s bPay jacket, you can add funds to a digital wallet linked to the device and use it with Visa or MasterCard debit or credit cards to make transactions of £30 or under. There’s currently over 400,000 locations that support payments.
All of the purchasing activity is managed from the bPay mobile app or through the web portal where can you can set up automatic top-ups when your balance is low. If you lose the wearable or the Loop, you can remotely shut it down via the app, online or by contacting the bPay team.
Letting us leave our wallets at home since 2012, bPay transactions have now hit the one million mark, which total just over £5 million. A recent report suggested that wearable payments would hit $100 billion by 2018. The Apple Watch already supports contactless payments via Apple Pay, while Fitbit plans to add wearable payments to its trackers in the future.
If you want a Loop, it’s available now from the bPay website for £19.99. bPay is also teaming up with Swiss watch maker Mondaine and Garmin to make the contactless cases available with select devices from their wearable ranges.
