Oberthur Technologies (OT), a French digital security company that provides secure technology solutions for smart transactions has introduced “Flybuy” range of wearable options for easy payments on the go.
The range of wearables include Flybuy Mini Fob and Flybuy Secure Element. Mini Fob is a very small contactless card including a boosted antenna that can be inserted into a silicone or leather wristband, a key chain or special pieces added to fitness trackers or watches. It makes it possible to add contactless payment functionality to various existing objects.
Secure Element is designed for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to be embedded into watches or fitness bands directly at the manufacturing stage.
Both the products can be used for payment, but also for public transport and access control to corporate premises, fitness centers or music/sports events.
“The global market of wearables is nascent and has huge growth potential over the coming years. With its leading position in the payment field, OT is a key and trusted partner to offer wearable payment solutions thanks to its comprehensive portfolio of products which can answer a full range of customer requirements” said Cedric Collomb, Head of Global Offer and Indirect Sales, OT Financial Services Institutions business.
According to IHS Technology, the number of wearable devices used for payments is projected to increase from 10 million units in 2015 to over 150 million units in 2020. And the Rio Olympics already saw a couple of companies trying their hands on contactless payments to ensure secure payment gateways.
For example, Visa and Barclaycard sported a contactless bracelet at the Rio Olympics that could be used to make payments at some 4,000 point-of-sale terminals across key Olympic venues. The contactless bracelet used Barclaycard’s bPay microchip and also contained an NFC antenna.
Similarly, NFCRing introduced a tiny, water-proof wearable ring for athletes at the Rio Olympics that employed NFC (Near Field Communication) technology to communicate data and comes with a security chip and passive contactless antenna. This chip communicated with the terminal through its tiny passive antenna, after which it initiated the secured payment and conducted cryptographic processing.