San Francisco-based Fitbit, a company that (recently acquired by Google for $2.1 billion) offers compact, wireless, wearable sensors that track users’ daily activities in order to encourage people to adopt a healthy and active lifestyle, has introduced a fitness wristband that comes with a contactless payments feature.
The Fitbit Charge 4 comes with the fitness firm’s built-in prepaid wallet. The chip reportedly works with cards from around 500 different issuers in 44 different countries and 10 transit systems located throughout the world.
Fitbit’s payments feature had only been available on premium versions of the Charge 3 wristband.
The Fitbit Charge 4 is priced at $149.95. It features several new work-out components and add-ons, which includes GPS tracking and Spotify compatibility.
In December 2019, Curve, a leading banking platform that consolidates multiple cards and accounts into one smart card and app, expanded its wearables offering by partnering with Fitbit, Garmin, and Sony’s Wena pay.
Curve had said that the partnerships were aimed at helping users who use the wearables to pay with any of their cards using Curve’s services.
Companies across the globe have been encouraging consumers to perform contactless payments, and to avoid dealing with physical cash due to the deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
The National Bank of Oman (NBO), one of the largest financial institutions in the Middle Eastern nation and its first local bank, has been trying to raise awareness regarding the importance of practicing safe banking during the Coronavirus crisis.
NBO offers a contactless “Tap and Go” payment card, which may be used when making in-store purchases.
The National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), a local, non-profit umbrella organization for operating retail payments and settlement systems in the country, has asked residents to make digital payments in order to reduce physical contact, following the Coronavirus outbreak.
The NPCI has been running a campaign through social media channels in order to encourage people to make contactless payments.