FitPay and Mastercard take prepaid to wearables and IoT
FitPay: it’s fit and it pays
FitPay Inc, a US-based provider of payment, credential management and authentication platform services, is planning to offer prepaid capabilities on wearable and other devices connected to its FitPay Payment Platform.
The FitPay Prepaid Mastercard will give consumers with Fit Pay’s contactless payment-enabled devices the convenience of storing funds directly on their devices, according to an announcement. FitPay is a wholly owned subsidiary of NXT-ID Inc.
The FitPay Prepaid Mastercard option will be available to original equipment manufacturers that integrate their products with the FitPay platform. Consumers will be able to load their FitPay-enabled internet of things (IoT) or wearable devices with prepaid value for contactless purchases. Users can then reload their accounts, set top-up thresholds and manage account settings via a digital wallet.
IDC estimates that vendors will ship a total of 125.5 million wearable devices this year, marking a 20.4% increase from the 104.3 million units shipped in 2016.
“Prepaid is a natural fit for enabling payments within the IoT ecosystem,” says Solana Cozzo, North America VP of prepaid and inclusive growth for Mastercard. “It meets consumers’ needs for security and control as their payment credentials are linked to a wider set of devices.”
The FitPay Prepaid Mastercard is issued by Sunrise Banks. Cascade Financial Technology serves as the programme manager.
