Sony Targeting Wearable Devices to Make Payment Easier and Smoother

“An innovative step of Sony in wearable payment technology to make payment easier and smoother from the wearable devices”

Wearable devices are no longer only wearables. Tech companies are looking at wearable devices as a revolutionary product. Companies are targeting wearables to make things more tech savvy.

Soon, we will be able to make payments through watches or any other wearable devices. Sony is working on a technology, known as FeliCa smartcard chip, which will be used in smart watches and other wearables. This wearable technology being used by Sony will allow smart watches and other devices of this nature to be capable of contactless mobile payments.

This is not the first time when Sony is implementing such technology. FeliCa Networks, a subsidiary of Sony, has already implemented this technology on mobile devices and has achieved widespread use throughout Japan in e-payment and public transit fares.

Sony just wants to bring this technology to wearable devices. For this, FeliCa Network is modifying its FeliCa contactless card technology for wearables. The new design will involve a low-power chip that can be fitted into smart watches, smart bands and other types of small connected gadgets that are designed to be worn on the body.

No doubt, wearables are the future and most top technology companies are aware of this fact. Currently however, consumers are not very aware of wearables; but it is believed that there is a large and growing segment of consumers who are interested in products such as smart watches and smart bands.

The idea behind bringing this technology to wearable devices is to make payment easier and eliminate carrying unnecessary cards and passes. Generally people use cards and passes when travelling by trains or buses. Sometimes it is critical for people to recall whether the card has a balance that can be used while making a payment, leading to time consumption. This technology will enable wearers to make payments by just waving the gadget over a reader and get information on the current balance and history.

This is not only beneficial from a consumers point of view, but also from a business point of view. On the one hand, it saves consumer’s time and provides easier options to make payment, while on the other, it is beneficial for businesses. It has been seen that whenever payment methods are simplified, users start spending more money to purchase different things.

Sony is not the only company which is working on wearable payment technology; there are many others who are working to bring payments on wearable devices. PayPal is already testing a Smartwatch payment system to enable wireless payment with smartwatch.

Wearable is a big emerging trend and affecting all verticals of businesses. The banking industry is also being affected by this trend and has to align its business in order to gain competitive advantage.

(Omnie Solutions is an enterprise application development company providing custom web and enterprise mobile application development services to global business. Omnie Solutions has extensive experience and expertise in app development for smart gadgets like Google Glass. Follow Omnie Solutions on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.)