Wear- and- pay push builds
A NEW range of payment devices that people can wear has been unveiled by Barclaycard as people’s use of “tap and pay” technology continues to grow.
The new “bPay” wristbands, fobs and stickers will go on sale in the UK online from tomorrow and are being made available to people aged 12 and above.
They work in a similar way to contactless cards and can be used at any of the 300,000- plus locations in the UK that accept contactless payments.
The wristband is priced at £ 24.99 ($ A51.49), the fob, which can be attached to a keyring or bag, is priced at £ 19.99 and the sticker, which can be attached to items to transform them into a contactless way to pay, will cost £ 14.99.
The wristband and the fob will also go on sale on the high street from August, including at some CycleSurgery and Runners Need outlets, which are part of the Snow and Rock Group, Barclaycard said.
People using the devices will be able to set them up by going to a website or using an app.
They can choose to top the devices up with set amounts of cash if they want to.
Apart from the upfront cost of buying the devices, there are no transaction, usage or top- up fees for consumers, Barclaycard said. As with contactless cards, a 20- transaction limit will apply to the devices.
Payments made using the wearable devices will also have the same fraud protections as contactless cards, Barclaycard said.
The British Bankers’ Association recently said consumers using contactless cards have collectively saved more than 93 years at the checkout since they were introduced.
On average, it takes half a second to tap and go with a contactless card, it said.