Style Notes

Money cards are passé. The international credit industry is betting big on wearable payment, but is India ready for it?

- Keith J Fernandez

Grandmothers everywhere have many family stories about turning jewellery into cash, but new technology has quite literally made this the case. Halo, launched in Australia this April, is a ring that in style and design looks a bit like a funky costume jewellery-Gothic black or metallic white. Retailing at a breezy $39, it is linked to a customer’s bank account and can pay for goods and services. All you have to do is wave the ring near the payment terminal, and voila: your transaction is processed.

Offered in collaboration with the financial institution Bankwest, Halo is so convenient that you can even wash your hands while wearing it; doing away with bulky wallets, frantic rummages through a purse, and any notions of easy theft. It doesn’t have to be charged and is also not linked to a smart phone. “It’s a new era in contactless payment,” Nichole Banks, General Manager for Customer Communications and Brand at Bankwest said in a press release.

Wave and pay

Halo is one of the several new wearables aimed at changing the way we pay for goods and services. Step counters, heart-rate trackers and wrist watches are the new carriers of mobile wallets. Simply waving these wearables at a cash point, transfers funds electronically.