Swatch Teams Up With Visa For Watch-Based Payments

Visa has extended its mobile payments reach by signing a new deal with iconic Swiss watchmaker Swatch.

The agreement means that Visa cardholders in the U.S., Switzerland and Brazil will be able to tap and pay using the Swatch Bellamy, Swatch’s new “pay-by-the-wrist” watch, which is set to launch sometime early next year.

Users will simply need to hold their device up to an enabled point of sale (POS) device to complete the transaction, which is facilitated by an NFC chip under the watch’s dial, similar to Apple Pay.

New Era

Swatch revealed the Bellamy, (pictured left) named after famed American writer Edward Bellamy, last month, but at the time only said it would be available in China, with sales set to begin in January.

“Fully consistent with the DNA of the pioneering Swiss watchmaker, Swatch Bellamy combines exciting yet functional Swatch design with state-of-the art payment technology from Visa,” the company said in a statement.

“Swatch Bellamy will open a new era of connected commerce, as mobile payment acceptance continues to increase around the world.”

Swatch announced back in May that it was working with battery manufacturer Renata to produce a battery that would last up to six months in its forthcoming wearable devices, as part of its bid to stand out from the competition.

The company revealed its first wearable device, the Zero Touch One back in March, a sports-focused device which included features such as calorie counting.

A study by analyst firm Juniper Research predicted that that the number of annual purchases made via connected devices should reach 125 billion annually by 2018 – 60 percent more than the total number of transactions in 2015.

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