India's digital transactions, which had witnessed a slump in recent times, is poised to get a fresh push, thanks to an initiative from the country's largest watchmaker and the biggest bank. Titan and State Bank of India (SBI) today launched the first-ever contactless payment watches.
Called Titan Pay, the range of watches come with contact payment functionality that could be used by SBI account holders by simply tapping their watches on contactless payment point-of-sales machines without having to swipe their debit cards.
- How to use Google Pay in India: a complete guide
- Jio to soon introduce UPI based payments app for entry-level JioPhone
- Google starts rolling out NFC enabled TAP & Pay feature in India
The watches can make payments of up to Rs.2,000 without having to enter a secure PIN. Giving details of the process, Titan said in a statement that a secure certified near-field communication (NFC) chip embedded in the watch strap is what enables it to function as a standard contactless debit card.
This payment feature on the Titan Pay watches would be accessible initially to more than 2 million contactless MasterCard-enabled point-of-sale machines across India, a prepared press statement said. Titan has released three styles of watches for men and two for women now. These are priced between Rs.2,995 and Rs.5,995.
SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar said the innovative offering could help his customers by providing a better shopping experience using the Tap and Pay technology that has been provided by Tappy Technologies, a wearables token service provider based out of Ontario, Canada.
Titan, a fashion accessories brand associated with the Tata Group, believes that the new range of watches would become the new normal by eliminating some payment barriers and result in quick, efficient, contactless and secure transaction mechanism. The collection of Titan Pay watches are available exclusive on the Titan website.
India has witness renewed interest in the digital payments business with several new players including Reliance Jio and Google joining the race in recent times. It remains to be seen if Indian watchmakers perceive this as an opportunity to tie-up with more lenders to launch contactless payments.
