A development in the United Kingdom may presage what might soon be seen in the United States—an NFC-enabled watch. Watch2pay, Britain’s first prepaid contactless wristwatch, uses MasterCard PayPass contactless technology to allow consumers to ‘Tap & Go’ to make fast, secure payments for up to £15 within seconds.

MasterCard has worked closely with watch manufacturer LAKS and issuer Vincento to bring this innovation. British consumers will now be able to tap their wristwatch (gently) against a contactless reader to make a payment at more than 70,000 retailers in the U.K., without needing to enter a PIN.

Matt Lanford, head of Prepaid at MasterCard Europe, observed that the payments company first brought contactless to the world nearly a decade ago, and has nearly 100 million PayPass cards and devices now issued globally.

Contactless wristwatches are already in use in Turkey, Poland, and a number of markets in Asia. Watch2pay builds upon the growing demand for contactless payments and prepaid cards in the United Kingdom, which respectively offer consumers greater security than cash and allow them to segment and set budgets for different spending needs. This is the first time there that a wristwatch has been enabled with the payment technology to meet both these functional needs.

Consumers can purchase a LAKS wristwatch online at www.watch2pay.co.uk. It comes with a reloadable MasterCard prepaid card which is not linked to a bank account or any line of credit and therefore can help users budget more effectively and avoid getting into debt. The card is valid up to two years and accepted at over 32 million retail locations worldwide.

http://newsroom.mastercard.com/press-releases/time-is-money-with-launch-of-first-ever-contactless-payments-wristwatch-in-the-uk/