Coming to your wearable device a chip that will help make secure payments

SINGAPORE – You can soon buy a small, flexible chip that can be attached to accessories like watches or fitness bands, turning them into contactless payment devices. This technology has been made possible through a collaborative effort of American financial services giant Mastercard, Singapore-based banking services provider MatchMove and Canada based wearable payment integrator Tappy Technologies.

The three partners have essentially introduced tokenization into a chip which can be attached to a range of battery-less wearables or even accessories keyrings. This accessory can then be used to make secure payments, all while avoiding contact with either men or machines, just like one would use any contactless card or digital wallet where the user taps the wearable at any contactless accepted terminal.

The need for this technology was felt when Mastercard analysed the results of a global study they undertook in 2020. It was found that 91 percent of respondents in Asia Pacific were using tap-and-go payments due to safety concerns. What was even more insightful was that 75 percent of them said they would keep using contactless long after the pandemic is over.

MatchMove cardholders can now add their MatchMove Mastercard® mto this payment chip by simply placing the wearable or the accessory on a Bluetooth-connected device developed by Tappy Technologies. After downloading the Tappy app and following the in-app instructions, the MatchMove Mastercard® will be tokenized via Mastercard’s Digital Enablement Service (MDES) into the secure payment chip of a wearable via the Bluetooth device.

Tokenization is the gold standard in terms of the existing technologies to process secure electronic payments. “We are proud to introduce network tokenization to the world of wearables in partnership with MatchMove and Mastercard. The Tappy patented provisioning accessory digitalizes payment credentials into wearables within seconds which is an absolute game changer within the banking industry,” said Tappy Technologies CEO Wayne Leung.

The Mastercard-certified payment chip embedded inside the wearable operates contactlessly and without batteries. “Our goal is to rewrite the standards of consumer wearable by producing products that are secure, easy to use and at the same time maintaining the natural aesthetics of the fashion wearable accessories which is critical to end consumers,” Leung added.

Amar Abrol, Chief Commercial Officer at MatchMove believes that this collaboration allows his company to continue the process of innovation, to bring about more convenience in a safe and secure manner—the core of the business. “With the addition of the Tappy solutions to our banking-as-a service offering, our customers will be able to take greater control of how they make payments and how payments can fit in their lifestyles. We see this as a real opportunity to drive conversations in this space and create a new dimension of what’s possible,” he further said.

This is not the first collaboration between Mastercard and Tappy. Earlier, they have partnered to through the Mastercard Accelerate initiative, a global platform which offers start-ups and emerging brands a range of programs that support and provide assistance for every stage of their growth and transformation.

“Mastercard is constantly innovating technologies that securely and seamlessly integrate payments into people’s day-to-day lives. By combining the versatility of Tappy and MatchMove’s technologies with tokenization, Mastercard is able to meet consumers’ need for both security and convenience at a time when contactless payments are more important than ever,” said Ben Gilbey, Senior Vice President, Digital Payments and Labs, Asia Pacific, Mastercard.