6 big Internet of Things payment projects

ByDaniel Wolfe, Kate Fitzgerald, John Adams

February 17, 2017 11:20 AM

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More everyday products are becoming connected devices, including refrigerators, washing machines and even mirrors. As each household item evolves, companies are eager to transform them into channels for shopping.

'Magic' mirror

Founded by former eBay executive Healey Cypher and colleagues, Oak Labs aims to wipe out the pain points that still exist in physical retail stores. Its interactive fitting-room system based on mirrors has been in development since 2015 at stores from designers including Ralph Lauren and Rebecca Minkoff. The new version adds Near Field Communication technology to accept payments from within each dressing room booth.

The Mercedes-Benz AG Generation EQ concept sport utility vehicle (SUV) sits on display during the 2017 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017. Last January, the 2016 NAIAS featured 61 vehicle introductions, a majority of which were worldwide debuts, and was attended by over 5,000 journalists from 60 countries. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Fueling the economy

Car makers are working aggressively to turn their dashboards into a shopping channel. To this end, German car maker Daimler AG acquired PayCash Europe SA in January as part of its plans for a broad range of new vehicle-related mobile payment services dubbed "Mercedes Pay." In addition, Honda is working with Visa, IPS Group and Gilbarco Veeder-Root to enable payments for gas and parking from within the car.

A top loading washing machines moves down the assembly line at the Whirlpool Corp. manufacturing facility in Clyde, Ohio, U.S., on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015. The U.S. Census Bureau is scheduled to release business inventories figures on December 11. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg

Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg

A 'Dash' of Payments

Amazon's Dash technology is best known as a small internet-connected button that consumers can press to reorder food and supplies from Amazon's website. But the technology is also being built into networked home appliances from partners such as GE, Samsung and Whirlpool, enabling washing machines and dishwashers to order more soap whenever they sense they are running low.

An IBM logo sits on display outside the offices of International Business Machines Corp. in the media city district of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Friday, Nov. 7, 2014. The United Arab Emirates' central bank limited mortgage lending and required larger down payments, and the Land Department doubled transaction taxes early last year as policymakers tried to avoid a repeat of a property bubble in 2008 that caused values to slump by about 65 percent. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

Dear Watson

IBM's Watson is no longer competing for the title of Jeopardy! champion — it now wants to be a platform for development in the Internet of Things. IBM will leverage the “cognitive abilities” of its Watson IoT platform with Visa technology, providing a streamlined path for businesses to add payments to any device connected to the internet, such as a vehicle.

John Herrington, senior vice president at Samsung Electronics America Inc., stands in front of the FlexWash washing machine and FlexDry dryer as he speaks during the company's press event at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017. CES, celebrating its 50th year, will showcase self-driving cars, TVs, drones, robots and a slew of other gadgets. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

On the menu

Just over a year ago, Mastercard and Samsung unveiled their vision for the future of grocery shopping. By embedding payments into a touchscreen on a networked fridge door, the companies allow consumers to order groceries without leaving the kitchen.

An LG Electronics Inc. Urban watch is displayed during the Google I/O Annual Developers Conference in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Thursday, May 28, 2015. Google Inc. unveiled payment services, security upgrades and access to HBO movies and shows for its popular Android software, seeking to push back against growing competition from rivals such as Apple Inc. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

About time

Google's Android Wear smartwatches debuted before the Apple Watch did, but with fewer features. Whether or not consumers were buying Apple's wearable to access Apple Pay from their wrists, Google knew it had to catch up. This month, Google finally brought Android Pay to its smartwatch platform, with LG developing the first Android Pay-compatible watch.