Product: MasterCard PayPass-equipped wrist watch
Company: MasterCard International

When the rest of the world is suffering from World Cup fever, Americans usually have high immunity to this strain of sports-borne hysteria. MasterCard International may be asking if Americans will also maintain their resistance to contactless debit watches.

The company launched a soccer-themed PayPass contactless-payments watch for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. The device was created in collaboration with Chinatrust Commercial Bank of Taiwan, Austrian watchmaker LAKS GmbH and On Track Innovations Ltd., a developer of contactless smart card solutions.

The choice of an Asian bank as a partner may signal greater receptiveness to contactless payment watches in that part of the world.

Charles Lo, Vice Chairman of Chinatrust, said contactless payments are quickly gaining momentum in Taiwan. The watches allow Taiwanese consumers to make purchases by simply tapping their wrist on a MasterCard PayPass-enabled POS terminal.

Taiwan is an early adopter of technology and is a leading market in the region to implement contactless payments, said Tina Chiang, Vice President and Business Manager, Greater China, MasterCard International. In Taiwan in 2005, MasterCard launched the OneSmart PayPass Chip Combi card for Kaohsiung City's transportation system.

In the United States, MasterCard's PayPass program offers consumers a quick way to pay for small-ticket purchases (under $25).

Consumers don't need to dig cash out of wallets or swipe credit or debit cards. They just tap their PayPass-enabled card or device, such as the watches, on a PayPass reader at participating merchants.

Speedpass goal-less with Timex watch

Speedpass and Timex offered a previous contactless payments watch to the U.S. public in 2002 for use at Exxon and Mobil convenience stores and pumps.

That product was discontinued in May 2005; its adoption was perhaps hampered by Speedpass' proprietary nature, making it limited to one nationwide merchant chain.

"To obtain compliance with MasterCard PayPass specifications, we built high security specifications into an analog watch," said LAKS Chief Executive Officer Lucas Scheybal. McDonald's Corp. had already dropped its pilot program, in which Speedpass was accepted at 200 restaurants.

Limited edition

The PayPass watch was produced in a limited edition and offered as a companion device to MasterCard credit cards. It comes in three colors and has a sporty exterior with soccer ball images imprinted on its face.

FIFA attendees who bought the PayPass watch received a MasterCard-branded commemorative soccer ball and bag.

MasterCard International
www.mastercardinternational.com