Swatch Ballamy Watch Allows Visa Holders To Pay-By-The-Wrist

Early this week, Swatch SA, Visa Inc, and Visa Europe announced its agreement to bring eligible cardholders the capacity to pay via its new “pay-by-the-wrist” Ballamy watch. According to the watch group’s press release, the Swatch Ballamy will have the usual design, look, and feel the watch is famous for, but will be equipped with a built-in NFC chip just under the dial that will allow people who wear them pay for their purchases using the merchants’ POS terminals.

CNET said that the Swatch Ballamy was first introduced in China back in October. The wearable was named after American writer Edward Bellamy, who predicted the rise of the credit and debit card in his 1888 novel "Looking Backward 2000-1887." Moreover, the meaning of the watch’s name in French is "good friend."

The Swatch Ballamy, which is set to launch in early 2016, will be made available to Visa cardholders in the United States, Switzerland and Brazil, Reuters said.