bpay
Latest
Timex's new watch collection includes contactless payment straps
Barclaycard's various bPay accessories give previously inert objects the ability to make contactless payments, regardless of where you bank. Last year saw the introduction of the bPay Loop, a contactless card alternative that clings to watch straps. Understandably, though, you might not want to ruin the aesthetics of your neat dress watch with a brash rubber sidekick, but Barclaycard and Timex have now teamed up for a more elegant solution.
Barclays helps put bPay contactless chips in phone cases
Alongside its bPay wearables and key fob, Barclays (or more specifically, Barclaycard) brings contactless payments to other things by way of a simple NFC sticker. This looks most at home stuck to the back of a smartphone, but now the bank has partnered with cover merchant Case Station for some slightly more elegant, albeit bulkier solutions. After teaming up with a clothing brand on a jacket with a contactless chip hidden in the cuff, Barclays' new ally is now offering a range of protective, fully personalised cases with built-in bPay for popular phones from the likes of Apple, Samsung and LG.
Barclays' bPay Loop turns regular watches into contactless cards
At this point, Barclays now plays nice with Apple Pay and last month, formally shunned Android Pay in favour of its own app for the platform. In addition, the bank has a range of devices that put contactless payments on your wrist, keychain and anything portable that'll welcome a sticker. Between all this and the dapper jacket the tech is built into, you'd think Barclays would have contactless covered. But today the bank is adding another member to the bPay family called the Loop: A contactless chip in a small silicon suit that's designed to make wristwatches and wearables like fitness trackers contactless-ready.
Barclays helps put contactless payments in a £150 jacket
Want a stylish way to make contactless payments in the UK, but can't afford an Apple Watch? Scottish knitwear brand Lyle & Scott has developed a jacket with Barclays' bPay technology in the cuff. For £150, you'll get a snazzy coat and the ability to make payments (now up to £30) by waving your hand over supported readers. Barclays has been pushing mobile payments for some time, but its latest hardware isn't particularly fashionable. There's a sticker you can slap on your phone, a key fob or a black wristband that offers only one of the benefits associated with fully featured wearables. With Lyle & Scott's "Contactless Jacket," however, the chip is always out of sight -- the downside being, of course, that you always have to wear it to make a payment. If you're smitten with the idea of garment-based payments, but don't like Lyle & Scott's sense of fashion, you could always sew a bPay sticker into your existing outwear. Sure beats shelling out £150 for a new jacket..
Barclaycard steps up its contactless game with three new NFC devices
If you didn't know, Britain now prefers cashless payments to notes and coins. Contactless cards play a big part in the shift away from cash, but as technology evolves, smartphones and wearables are beginning to influence matters too. Barclaycard has long supported contactless technology, via its PayTag NFC sticker or bPay bracelet, but the credit card provider recently pulled the products and warned that something new was coming. Indeed, Barclaycard is back with three "new" wearable bPay payment devices: a wristband, fob and sticker.
