Danske Bank FastPay System Features Wearable Chip Mobile Payments

Three to five years ago, there were all sorts of breathless futurists giving forth on how wearable devices would ultimately replace smartphones, despite the fact that many such devices depended on smartphones to provide the processing power required to get any use out of them. However, the trend is not dead, as evidenced by Danske Bank in Denmark, who is currently testing a contactless payment system powered by wearable devices known as FastPay.

The testing is taking place throughout much of Scandinavia, including Norway and Sweden along with Danske Bank’s home turf, Denmark. It’s handed out units to “thousands of customers”, which suggests an excellent sample size study. It works much like a debit card with Mastercard backing, and allows for payments of up to 350 Danish krone-$54.08 US as of this writing—without having to put in a PIN.

There’s no date set for a commercial rollout yet, and any such move will likely depend on how well the testing goes. Since the testing has only recently started, it’s probably a safe bet that such a system won’t be available until sometime next year, unless Danske Bank wants to really push the testing envelope and get this ready for Christmas shopping season.

Danske Bank’s head of card and mobile payments Morten Schwaner noted “We believe that a contactless chip attached to a watch, wristband or jewelry will be an easy and convenient way of making payments in the future. FastPay will help drive the development of wearables, because everyone will be able to make card-free contactless payments without having to invest in a particular watch or or other expensive device.”

It’s hard to fault Danske Bank’s optimism here, but what problem is this trying to solve? A lack of convenience? For most people, their phones already go everywhere they do, so there’s no real problem solved by going to a device that’s only slightly more convenient than the one in their pocket. Is it a lack of accessibility? Smartphones can be pricey if you buy the latest one, but looking for used models of the biggest names from two or three years ago yields surprising bargains.

Danske Bank may have a useful system on its hands, but breaking through current customer use patterns will likely prove a challenge.