In just one year, the number of wearable transactions made in Europe has risen eightfold. Mastercard figures show that European consumers were able to use payment-enabled wearables in 26 EU countries using over 30 different devices. The Dutch were the most prolific users of wearables to make payments, and the Netherlands accounted for a third of all wearable transactions. The UK accounted for 18% of the total. Globally the most wearable payments were made in Australia.
The Mastercard figures are based on payments made using active and passive wearables. A passive wearable is something like a ring or a key fob, and you use it like a contactless card. You can approve the transaction by entering your PIN on a payment terminal. With active wearables, like a smartwatch, you can enter your PIN on the wearable itself and complete the payment with a single tap.
However, the distinction between active and passive wearables is increasingly blurred. Natwest has announced that it is issuing a payment fob linked to a customer’s fingerprint that will allow contactless payment of up to £100. Is this active or passive? The use of biometrics blurs this distinction, and the use of biometrics in payments is increasing. For instance, earlier this month, Barclays released an improved version of its VeinID reader for corporate customers. The new version is smaller, more portable and wireless-enabled. These changes are driven by improvements in technology, a desire for greater security and regulations – biometric authentication in its broader form, inherance, can be one of the two factors required for authentication under PSD2.
Read more:
– Mastercard, wearable payments are taking off across Europe: eightfold increase in transactions in just a year: https://newsroom.mastercard.com/eu/press-releases/wearable-payments-are-taking-off-across-europe-eightfold-increase-in-transactions-in-just-a-year/
– Finextra. NatWest tests biometric payment fob: https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/34888/natwest-tests-biometric-payment-fob
The Lord Meyricks 