By TechJunky
Lately I have come across a watch launched by Touch 'N Go, Time Traveler Watch, basically a watch equipped with SIM slot with T&G card plugged in, turning a watch into a contactless payment device with just a tap on the reader, and WALAH, the payment is made; especially convenient for people communing in transit daily. The idea is pretty cool, but yet received not so friendly reviews by some renowned local blog sites in Malaysia, mainly because of its pricing.
Is RM 239 too steep for the price for such a watch, though equipped with such convenient feature? It is pretty subjective. I believe there will be market for it, especially for those with deep pockets that won't think twice to look cool in front of others by tapping their way through transits, and making payment at participated T&G merchants.
Anyway, do check out this video on peculiar way of using this watch to pay at toll - www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWl26HE3YTw !!
Wearable payment devices do come in many forms - from ring to wristband, to watch, and even jacket (a pretty dumb idea to me as I doubt many would want to wear the same jacket just because one can make payment with it), and certainly in Malaysia an uncharted area as contactless payment has yet to take off even after so many years; however according to Juniper Research, mobile and wearable payments would hit $100 billion by 2018, thus a force to be reckoned with in the next few years. With WeChat Pay and Samsung Pay knocking the door, mobile payment will certainly pick up steam sometime this year.
So besides watch, ring and wristband, in what other form factors would you want to see the wearable payment devices in? Fitness tracker??