Indian watchmaker Titan Company has partnered with State Bank of India (SBI) to unveil a contactless payment watch ‘Titan Pay’ powered by YONO SBI. Through this partnership, Titan and SBI are launching a range of new watches with contactless payment functionality for the first time in India.
With this launch, SBI account holders can tap their Titan Pay watch on contactless payment POS machine without the need of swiping or inserting their SBI bank card. Payments of up to Rs 2000 can be made without entering a PIN. A secure certified Near-Field Communication (NFC) chip embedded in the watch strap by Tappy Technologies enables all the functionalities of a standard contactless SBI debit card.
The payment feature on these watches will be accessible on over 2 million contactless MasterCard-enabled Point-of-Sale (POS) machines in the country. This exclusive collection of watches include 3 styles for men and 2 for women and are priced between Rs 2,995 and Rs 5,995.
“We are glad to be a part of the launch of this unique proposition in the contactless payments space by Titan. It gives me immense pleasure to join hands with one of the world’s 5th largest watch manufacturer, to provide a smart and innovative shopping solution for our YONO customers with Titan Payment Watches. We believe this innovative offering will redefine the shopping experience for our customers with Tap & Pay technology. With the latest technological advancements, the State Bank of India has always been striving towards providing innovative, best-in-class banking services for our customers,” Rajnish Kumar, Chairman, SBI said in a statement.
S Ravi Kant, CEO, Watches and Wearables Business at Titan told TNM in an interview in March that the company was experimenting with integrating payments into the smartwatches, allowing customers to pay by just tapping their watch.
“Titan has always been at the pinnacle of design and innovation. We have always launched products to cater to the changing needs of our consumers. SBI is the perfect partner to introduce a payment solution for the new normal that is fast, secure, and seamless. This product will not only satisfy the consumer’s banking needs but will also serve today’s evolving consumers with its classic and sophisticated designs,” C K Venkataraman, Managing Director, Titan Company Limited said.