SwatchPAY! is the name of a brand new mobile payment service that is currently available to Mastercard cards in Switzerland as of today. For the first time ever, all transactions on credit, debit, and prepaid cards are being tokenized on watches that are not connected to the internet.
Cembra Money Bank, Cornèrcard, Swiss Bankers, Swisscard (Credit Suisse), UBS, and Viseca are among the several Swiss Mastercard card issuers that provide support for this service. Additionally, contactless payments are accepted at more than three quarters of all cash terminals in Switzerland. SwatchPAY! made its debut in China during the summer of 2017, but at the time, it was only compatible with a restricted number of credit cards.
SwatchPAY! operates in a manner that is quite similar to that of other contactless payment systems, such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, which you may already be familiar with. When paying with a credit card, users of Swatch watches equipped with NFC must tap the display of their watch against the card reader. The timepiece will communicate with the reader to exchange the necessary information in order to complete the transaction.
The energy that is required for this procedure is provided by the payment terminal. Because the watches do not have Bluetooth, it is not necessary for you to even have your smartphone on you at all times.
During the digital transaction, the consumer’s 16-digit card number that is printed on the Mastercard will be changed to a different card number, also known as a “token.” The token is distinct from the card number and cannot be used on any other device to complete a transaction because of this difference. This serves to boost security and is quite similar to the system that is utilized by the Apple Watch and the Samsung Galaxy Watch.
According to Daniela Massaro, Country Manager of Mastercard Switzerland, “The new SwatchPAY! in Switzerland offers an additional convenient way for a large number of Swiss consumers to make contactless payments.” This statement was made by Ms. Massaro.
“And purchasing with SwatchPAY! is not only extremely convenient, but it is also risk-free because none of your personal account or card information is stored or communicated,” SwatchPAY!
Swatch has introduced four new watches that are equipped with their SwatchPAY! technology. They all include an NFC radio chip buried inside the watch dial and are resistant to water up to a depth of thirty meters. Their designs are fairly comparable to one another.
SwatchPAY! is currently only available for use in Switzerland and China. It is conceivable that this trend will spread to other locations in the near future.
