Tap-and-Go Payment Ring Hits the Market
Wearable tech and gadgets are becoming more and more common, and it looks like banking and payment methods are the next area being heavily influenced by these innovations.
While South Africa recently got tap-and-go payments courtesy of FNB, Bankwest bank from Australia has gone as far as introducing a ring that uses NFC (near-field communication) technology to allow touch payments with a point-of-sale machine. Their goal was to allow for customers not to have to worry about cards or any other inconveniences but simply to pay with a piece of jewellery.
The process to get the ring is made as smooth and simple as possible:
- Get an applicable account.
- Size your finger to determine your appropriate ring size.
- Order your ring.
While this might seem like science fiction, the banking and financial sectors are two technologically quite advanced and seem to be exploring a lot of innovative options to allow customers different methods of payment. Essentially, it simply carries over the same function as a tap-and-pay card, but instead incorporates it into a ring instead for more convenience.
It may be a bank all the way in Australia right now – but don’t think you’ll be waiting too long to see this make its way to South Africa. In all likelihood, one of the major banks is busy looking into how to bring this to us.
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