Our wallets are slowly making their way onto our smartphones. A number of mobile wallet and payment apps are now available, making it easier to purchase every thing from our daily coffee to our latest fix of comic books through our smartphones. Artefact, a product design studio based in the U.S., believes that there is a better place for our wallets: Our wrists. Enter the Artefact Token, essentially a Bluetooth smartband that makes it easy to make purchases and tracks your finances at the same time.
Token supports four financial actions or portals as Artefact describes them:
- Pay: Purchase items from vendors
- Give: Transfer funds to another userA
- Ask: Request money from another user
- Peek: Check bank statements
For example, you would simply tap the Pay button when ready to make your purchase. Already aware of the merchant’s Wi-Fi network, the Token would be able to receive the necessary transaction details, allowing you to simply authorize it biometrically using your heart beat or fingerprint or with more traditional means such as a PIN. A range of payment methods from a variety of credit cards or debit would be supported, allowing you to choose which to use for that particular transaction.
With a centralized payment hub, Token could also track all your finances, giving you summaries of recent purchases and various balances.
There would also benefits for merchants and financial institutions to supporting the Artefact Token. Merchants could offer personalized services based on what customers have bought in the past while financial institutions would benefit from a more secure system to cut down on fraud.
Would you want to wear your wallet on your wrist or is that place already reserved for your smartwatch? Or should the two be merged into a single device? Let us know below.