Swiss watch maker Swatch declared on March 12, Thursday, that it is planning to put inexpensive programmable chips into existing watch lines that will allow customers to make payments with a swipe of their wrist, the Toronto Sun reported. However, the company is in no mood to follow in the footsteps of Apple's smartwatch.
According to BBC, Nick Hayek, Chief Executive of Swatch, revealed that they are planning to introduce two types of wireless communication technology to its watch, Bluetooth and Near Field Communication (NFC). Bluetooth chip will enable watches to send and receive data to smartphones. Users will be able to see text messages, news updates and other notifications.
The NFC chip can be used to trigger touchless payments and unlock hotel doors and other compatible devices. These chips will cost around 2 francs ($2.50) per watch. The world's bestselling watchmaker has partnered with China UnionPay, a Chinese credit card association, to offer contactless payments in China.
Hayek said that they will begin offering NFC-enabled watches within two months. He made it clear that the company has no interest in making fully-featured smartwatches that are being offered by Pebble, Motorola and Apple. Swatch, which currently accounts for 18% of watch sales, has raised its market share over the past five years.
Additionally, the Swiss-based company has updated its existing fitness tracker. The Swatch Touch Zero One can track the number of footsteps of beach volleyball players and can measure the force of their impact on the volleyball. Plus, it is waterproof. The fitness tracker is powered by one of the Swatch's standard batteries that lasts months.