Kairos Hybrid Smartwatches get Mobile Payment Function

Kairos Hybrid Smartwatches get Mobile Payment Function

Kairos brings NFC based mobile payment to their hybrid mechanical smartwatches.

Kairos Watches, one of our Top 20 Smartwatches taking on the Apple Watch, announced today to add mobile payment function to their hybrid mechanical smartwatch technology. The Kairos smartwatches feature a Swiss or Japanese powered automatic movement with smartwatch electronics. The Kairos smartwatches are featuring a semi-transparent screen that displays smartphone notifications on top of the mechanical watch face.

Kairos Watches works with the technology and financial services provider Wirecard AG to bring NFC based mobile payment to their smartwatches. Kairos will use Wirecard’s Payments Software Development Kit for its hybrid mechanical smart watches and T-Bands. Wirecard will therefore enable Kairos to offer contactless payment transactions and value added services on every NFC-based terminal around the world.

“Kairos Watches believes that the future of payments is wearable, which is why we chose to partner with Wirecard, one of the world’s most innovative payment companies,” said Sam Yang, Founder and Managing Director of Kairos Watches. “This partnership with Wirecard brings an unparalleled level of convenience and simplicity for smart watch users when it comes to payments.”

Kairos Hybrid Watch

Jörn Leogrande, Executive Vice President Mobile Services with Wirecard adds: “The wearable sector is an important driver for secure mobile services like payment, access, ticketing and identification. We are happy to support innovative startups like Kairos which are at the forefront of wearable innovations via our global portfolio of technologies and services.”

The Apple Watch offers mobile payment via Apple Pay. Competitors need to find ways to offer similar functionality in their watches. Kairos Watches is a step closer with this announcement. The first Kairos watches are supposed to ship in Q2, unless a Swiss luxury Watch maker buys them first. A move we would advise to consider strongly, as the Kairos approach to smartwatches is a perfect fit for traditional watch makers.

Kairos recently announced a licensing deal to provide their technology to Guess Watches.

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