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Spectators holding season tickets for the Saracens of the British rugby club found that the welcome gift box they received this year contained something unusual: a rubber wristband with the team’s logo hidden inside. A string of 8-digit codes.
This is not the kind of useless, cheap but inspiring wrist accessory that fans used to show their loyalty to the team before. This is a digital wallet that uses a contactless payment chip to pay for purchased goods. It is very convenient and fast. It is as efficient as using the Apple Pay service on the Apple Watch or the new Up4 that Jawbone plans to launch this summer.
Spectators with season tickets can now log on to the team’s website, enter the 8-digit code on their watch, add credit card information (currently only MasterCard can be used), and can recharge 20 pounds on their wristband each time ( Approximately US$30).
Then the fans can quickly pass through the stadium gate wearing the wristband and buy food and beverages from the merchants distributed around the stadium. At the same time, thanks to the built-in near field communication (NFC) The technology uses an “open loop” on the chip, and it can also be used for businesses outside the stadium.
This means that fans can use wristbands to pay for tickets when taking buses, subways or trains in London. In addition to traditional tickets and Oyster cards, the public transport system in London now also accepts various contactless payment cards. . The wristband can also be used in other stores equipped with contactless payment cash registers. If fans are bored with the wristband, they can throw it away if they wish.
The concept of this wristband is similar to the MagicBand launched by Disney in early 2013. This is a rubber wristband. Visitors to Disney theme parks can use this wristband to enter the parking lot or pay for meals (wearing this Tourists with wristbands tend to spend more). The difference from Gemalto wristbands is the open-loop component. Rubber wristbands equipped with this component allow fans to use the wristband outside the stadium.
This is the same payment function provided by the Apple Watch, which starts at $349, but the price is only a fraction of the Apple Watch. Audiences who bought the Saracens season tickets can get a wristband for free, and Gemalto, the Dutch company that produces the wristband, said its corporate customers can buy a wristband for only a few cents, or up to a few dollars. You can buy a higher-quality wristband that can last for more than one year.
Gemalto said that the cost of producing temporary payment wearable devices is slightly higher than producing contactless payment cards. However, Gemalto UK vice president Howard Berg (Howard Berg) said that for customers, the real taboo is not cost. “The main challenge is to figure out how to use it.”
Gemalto’s goal is to allow more people outside the stadium to use its wristbands as easily and frequently as they would use a credit card, and recharge when needed. One of the primary benefits is that the production cost of wristbands is very low. In many cases, consumers can obtain them for free from the sports clubs they support or banks with business relationships.
In the second half of 2014, Caixa Bank of Spain began distributing 15,000 payment wristbands to customers who already have new contactless payment cards. Now, all its customers can use this wristband in more than 300,000 merchants that have installed contactless payment cash registers in Spain.
One tap on the wristband can pay up to 20 euros, and if the customer enters the pin code, a higher amount can be paid. The wristband is waterproof and available in different colors.
In September 2014, Barclays Bank of the United Kingdom conducted a similar attempt in the United Kingdom, giving away 10,000 wristbands to its customers for free. The method of use is similar to that of contactless payment cards.
The bPay service even allows non-Barclays Bank customers to register for a wristband on its website, and then associate the wristband with their MasterCard or Visa. In fact, Barclays Bank has been preparing to shut down the bPay service since May 31, and plans to replace it with another system that has not yet been announced.
Gemalto is best known for its production of SIM cards used in smartphones and feature phones. About two years ago, it started its own temporary wearable device business. Berg said that Gemalto’s earliest customers were stadiums and organizations that held music festivals and sports concerts. On these occasions, for security reasons, people hate to walk around with cash, and wristbands are the most convenient payment tool.
“People don’t want to walk around with cash in their pockets,” he added. “Mobile phones can be used, but they don’t want to take out an iPhone worth 600 pounds. They want something that is safe, unobtrusive, and can even be given to their children at hand.”
Apple is often praised as a pioneer in technological innovation. From the rapid popularity of smartphones and tablets to the application economy, Apple leads the way.
It launched Apple Pay mobile payment service on iPhone 6 and Apple Watch, which is widely regarded as opening the floodgate of another new technology.
Although Apple has helped make payments on the wrist a higher social acceptance, a batch of temporary wearable devices from banks, sports clubs and other institutions may lead consumers to choose more simple and easy-to-use products.
Berg hinted that because of a problem Apple is well aware of: brand building, the potential of distributing wristbands through sports clubs is much greater than through banks.
“What sports clubs have is the element of loyalty,” he said. “Do you want the logo on your wristband to be your local football club or Bank of America?”
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