7. Wristband Pay Chips
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjbhb_FnLFE Forget Apple Pay and contactless cards: the future is putting your money on wrist, not in your fist. OK, so these wrist-mounted wallets have been in development for some time, but theyre about to hit it big. Trialled by Mastercard at the Isle of Wight festival in 2012, the 2015 Rugby World Cup saw the plastic supremo handing out pre-paid PayPass bands to corporate guests and game-goers, loaded with cash for them to splash at the match. Fitted with a sim-like contactless chip, buying a round is as easy as waving your wrist over a contactless reader provided your band isnt cash-strapped. Its also possible to integrate the tech into keyfobs and phone cases something Barclaycard has done with its similar bPay system but the on-arm option offers that hallowed hands-free convenience to pint-carrying punters. Worried about some nifty criminal nicking from your wrist? The bands are subject to the same limits as tap-to-pay bank cards (£30 per transaction), and you can link them to you phone for extra assurance. Both England Rugby and Saracens are offering Mastercards tech to fans, whilst public transport pilots are ongoing across the globe. Expect to see bands popping up at major events, festivals and sports fixtures this year as the promoters method of choice for spending your hard-earned wonga. What does the future hold? Nymi, a Canadian company, has been working with Mastercard, among others, to develop a similar band thats verified by your pulse. Talk about beating fraud with your body.
Chris Rowlands
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Happy-snapping worldly wordsmith. In between snapping street shots, tapping out stellar prose and having more hair-brained ideas than a barber with a bachelor's in business, you'll find him fumbling with the latest fitness fads and dreaming of a debut in F1 (he's a late bloomer, OK?).
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