Xiaomi has announced NFC-enabled watch straps that will allow contactless payments for its users in India. The watch straps will exclusively work with Xiaomi’s own payment solution Mi Pay and for this, the company has tied up with several stakeholders in India.
Xiaomi Chief Business Officer Raghu Reddy tweeted about the upcoming Xiaomi NFC Pay Strap that the firm announced during the Global FinTech Festival as the “future of contactless payments.” Reddy further mentioned that the soon-to-be-launched Xiaomi NFC Pay Strap will work along with RuPay, RBL Bank, and fintech platform Zeta as well as Xiaomi’s Mi Pay app. The tweet also shared a picture that only shows a smartwatch strap with the NFC logo embedded into it.
No details around the product have been released as of now. Though such a contactless payment option from Xiaomi has been hinted at for a while now. The idea is to have dedicated hardware that will increase the adoption of Mi Pay in India among Xiaomi users.
NFC Pay Strap
For those who find the concept a bit strange, know that NFC-enabled watch straps are exactly what is hinted at by their name. They are specially designed straps for wristwatches that come with NFC functionality. Such straps can be designed to be compatible with more than one wristwatch. Though it is likely that the NFC Pay strap by Xiaomi will be compatible with its own watch offerings.
Once used on a watch, the smartwatch straps do not need any source of power to function. They can easily be tapped onto a point-of-sale device for making contactless payments. In addition, they can even be configured to work in place of dedicated cards for a place.
There is no launch date mentioned in the tweet, but the upcoming festive season might be a good bet as brands often launch new products during the e-commerce sales that are hosted in the period.
