CPI Card Group Inc. (Nasdaq: PMTS, TSX: PMTS) (CPI) a payment technology company and leading provider of credit, debit and prepaid solutions, announced on Tuesday it has formed a collaboration with Fit Pay, Inc., a company in the contactless payments space and subsidiary of Nxt-ID, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXTD). Fit Pay selected CPI’s embedded contactless technology, Adaptives, to power contactless transactions for Flip, its new contactless payment device.
“Flip allows consumers to make purchases at millions of retail locations that accept contactless payments. Accompanying the physical Flip is Fit Pay’s digital wallet, which enables consumers to store and manage funds transferred from standard bank accounts, supported Bitcoin wallets and more. Similar in size to a poker chip, Flip gives contactless payment power to consumers in an imaginatively compact and convenient form.”
Jack Jania, VP of Product Management and Innovation, CPI Card Group, stated:
“Along with the shift to contactless payments, we’re also seeing an evolution in consumers’ relationships with their wallets. People went from paying with cash to mostly paying with cards. There’s significant appeal and interest in easy to carry and quick to access payment methods, and payment objects help answer that call. We’re thrilled to work with Fit Pay to introduce such a distinct, contactless payment innovation in the U.S.”
Through its small size, thinness, flexibility and cost-effectiveness, CPI’s Adaptives allows companies to “adapt” the technology for multiple end uses and form factors for contactless payment. Additionally, CPI’s dedication to customer support helps companies create payment objects that capture their brand identity, no matter how simple, complex or novel they may be. CPI worked in close collaboration to integrate Adaptives with Fit Pay’s desired form factor to produce the contactless-enabled Flip.
Michael Orlando, COO of NXT-ID and President of Fit Pay, Inc., then noted:
“We have always been committed to advancing payment technology, and CPI has helped us create a new contactless payment option for consumers. Flip represents a new way for people to make contactless purchases everyday with an inexpensive, easy to use form factor. We look forward to seeing the number of Flip users grow and working with CPI to bring more and more innovative contactless payment devices to market in the future.”
The duo went on to add that non-fiat funds (i.e. cryptocurrency) must first be converted to U.S. dollars before those funds are loaded onto Flip. There are account and exchange fees associated with maintaining a Flip digital wallet. Flip is currently only available in the U.S.