As another sign that mobile and connected technology is the future of everything, MasterCard and WISeKey have announced a partnership to bring contactless Payments to select luxury watches. The partnership was announced at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) which officially began today in Barcelona, Spain.
With a major focus on the smartphone industry, innovation being introduced at the MWC has evolved to include more technology from other sectors such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile payments. As such, while introducing its new Galaxy phones, Samsung also used the opportunity to provide operational updates on its mobile payment solution, Samsung Pay.
According to WISeKey and MasterCard, the two firms will work together to expand watches that support contactless payments and e-commerce opportunities for watch payments. The deal expands the use of WISeKey’s WIS.WATCH technology which currently works with several luxury watch manufactures such as Bulgari and Hublot.
Using NFC technology, WIS.WATCH connects with WISeKey’s smartphone app to sync and secure data services such as financial information between a user’s watch and phone. In addition to payments, WIS.WATCH also provides the ability of IoT services such as unlocking doors in connected homes and fitness tracking.
Commenting on the collaboration, Sherri Haymond, SVP, Digital Payments and Labs, MasterCard stated: “Our collaboration with WISeKey is a great example of how payments functionality can deliver more value for a variety of device manufacturers, and create safe and convenient shopping experiences for their consumers. We are using our collective innovative technology and expertise to transform the way people pay for things.”
