Mastercard has formed a strategic partnership with Tappy Technologies, a Hong Kong-based internet of things firm, to develop designer branded contactless payments-enabled wearables, starting with Timex.
Tappy will connect its NFC-based contactless payment platform with Mastercard’s Digital Enablement Service to create a path for tokenizing payment credentials in various IoT items, Mastercard said in a recent press release.
Timex Group is the first manufacturer to leverage the partnership, with plans to launch contactless-enabled watches and watch straps in the first half of next year, the release said. Timex makes watches under various brand names including Nautica, Guess, Versace and Ted Baker, along with its own 165-year-old Timex brand.
“Thanks to our partnership with Tappy, we can offer convenient payment-enabled timepieces that will transform our relationship with our consumers, offering them even greater functionality that keeps up with how they interact with the world around them," said Shawn Lawson Cummings, Timex’s senior vice president of advanced technologies, in the release.
“The innovation Tappy offers, fueled by Mastercard’s payments and secure tokenization technology, is a great example of how the power of partnerships is expanding the fintech landscape,” said Ben Gilbey, Mastercard’s senior vice president of digital payments and labs for Asia Pacific, in the release.
