It's all happening as they said it will happen in the sci-fi movies. We will have electric cars, an intelligent AI and money will stop being a tangible currency, with everyone just going forward with a flick of their thumb to carry out daily transactions. Well, we have already come far to achieve them and now we are taking leaps toward it.
Singapore is soon set to be the first country in South-east Asia, where one, if willing, can pay for their public transport ride with a tap from their wrist wearable.
EZ-Link Wearables is a new product line sporting "smart, stylish" wearables will let the consumers not only avail EZ-link payment functions and pay for their public transport but also let them make purchases at over 30,000 ez-link acceptance points. In the beginning only two devices are going to come with this facility.
EZ-Link in collaboration with Watchdata Technologies will launch the Batman v Superman Fitness Tracker X EZ-Link, which will act as a smart fitness band and also as ez-link card. This tracker will be available exclusively on My EZ-Link Online Shop from Jan 24 and is priced around S$42.80 and Garmin vívosmart HR priced at S$259, which will be available for consumers by the end of March.
These contactless payments are going to use wireless Near Field Communication (NFC) technology in order to transmit data between the fitness band and a contactless payment reader. All one needs to do is tap the devices on the readers and the amount will be paid. In case you are running out of balance, you can top-up at the several top-up points available.
Nicholas Lee, chief executive of EZ-Link, said: "Our vision for EZ-Link Wearables is to give our users new possibilities and freedom, by blending an essential part of their daily journeys with different aspects of their lives. We are even more excited to be at the core of a wearable revolution for Singapore and the limitless possibilities we can bring to consumers."
Huang Wenwei, Watchdata's general manager of Payment & ID said it will add the ez-link function in more products later, remarking that "This milestone marks the beginning of a new era for smart wearable technology."
This marks an important step towards smart wearable technology and the role it can play in bringing forward a cashless society. It is too early to predict the future and thus we would have to keep our fingers crossed.
