MASTERCARD TAPS COIN TO LAUNCH WEARABLE PAYMENTS

MasterCard has partnered with Coin to bring MasterCard payments to a wide array of fitness bands, smart watches and other wearable devices. This collaboration builds upon the MasterCard announcement in October introducing the “Commerce for Every Device” program to enable any consumer gadget, accessory or wearable to become a payment device.

Atlas Wearables, which designs advanced fitness trackers, and Omate, a maker of fashionable smartwatches, are the first set of companies working with MasterCard and Coin to implement payment technology in their products.

Coin will provide hardware and software technology that is integrated with the MasterCard Digital Enablement Service (MDES) and which can be embedded into devices to enable manufacturers to quickly and easily implement payment functionality into their consumer products.

“The great thing about the MasterCard program is that we are adding payment functionality to items that consumers are already using – fitness bands, jewelry, clothing, watches,” said Sherri Haymond, senior vice president of digital payments, MasterCard. “This makes the products more useful for consumers and enhances the value device manufacturers can deliver to their customers. Coin complements that approach and enables us to reach an expanded set of device partners.”

“Leveraging Coin’s technology, device manufacturers will benefit from significantly reduced costs and time to market,” said Kanishk Parashar, CEO and co-founder of Coin. “MasterCard is our essential partner as we team up to enable the wearable domain that is projected to grow to an astounding $53 billion by 2019.”