Wirecard recently announced that it is partnering with online bank Comdirect and Visa to offer contactless payments via wearable devices during the 2018 German Beach Volleyball Championships, August 31 to September 2. The announcement illustrates the new trend of distributing wearable payment devices at major sporting events worldwide. For example, during the 2018 Winter Olympics in Seoul, Visa distributed contactless payment devices in various forms (payment-enabled gloves, commemorative pins, and stickers).
In a recent article published in Markets Insider, Thorsten Holten of Wirecard had this to say about combining spectator sports with seamless payments:
“We are increasingly seeing that consumers are combining sporting activities with seamless payments. In this way, a brand new market for intelligent, fully digital payment wearables for leisure activities is being created. The wearables supplied by Wirecard and comdirect offer users a state-of-the-art payment experience.”
It would appear that these organizations have discovered a key demographic for wearable payment devices. In addition, providing wearable payment solutions at sporting events enables Wirecard, Comdirect, and Visa to control the environment and fully demonstrate the use case of wearable payments. According to the Markets Insider article, offering wearable payments at the 2018 German beach volleyball championship event is only part of a larger campaign to introduce this wearable technology to consumers.
“The wearable campaign is running as part of a long-term partnership between comdirect and the German Volleyball Association (DVV). During the event, around 5,000 wristbands will be distributed to spectators, which can be used for a variety of payments at the event venue.”
Overview by Ryan McEndarfer, Editor-in-chief at PaymentsJournal.com
