The new bPay bands are part of a wider revolution in wearable technology and will allow consumers to pay for a variety of services, such as coffee, travel and even gym memberships, with the single swish of an arm.
Barclays’ bands are effectively loaded with money by users from their bank accounts, which can then be spent on small purchases up to a single transaction value of £20 by swiping them over a pay point. The new bands are rubberized, waterproof and contain a computer chip and micro-aerial to communicate with transaction terminals. Wearable 24 hours a day, bPay bands operate faster than conventional plastic cards as they don’t require a four-digit pin.
The bPay bands have been trialled at public events such as London Pride, where they were used to gain entry and buy food and drink, and plans are now in place to bring the bands to the mainstream so that they can be used at any one of around 300,000 till terminals – many in coffee shops and newsagents – that already work with contactless debit cards.
It will be possible to pay for journeys on all buses, tubes and trains inside London by swiping them across terminals from later this year. Other towns and cities are expected to follow suit.
“Just imagine a typical day in the near future,” said a Barclays spokesman. “You leave the house, hop on the train and head to the gym. After your workout, you grab a coffee and go to the office. The money or information you need for every stage of that journey will be integrated into a single device like bPay band, from your travel card to your gym membership to the money for your coffee and lunch.
“It’s a time that isn’t quite here yet, but it’s not far away. Innovations like bPay band are bringing it closer every day.”
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