French technology giant Thales and Canadian wearables firm Tappy Technologies are helping Indian bank Axis provide a stylish and secure contactless way of payment.

A Thales chip form factor leverages Tappy’s holistic payment technology to offer innovative purchase methods. These wearable contactless payment devices are easy to carry around, and blend seamlessly into the users’ daily lives with little intrusion.

Thales has managed to condense the technology of a contactless payment card into a tiny piece of secure payment technology – Thales Gemalto FlexiTag – that can be invisibly integrated into a vast range of wearable shapes and sizes. Axis Bank customers can therefore enjoy payment bands, key fobs or loops to process fast contactless transactions without having to take out a wallet.

The wearable is directly linked to the customers’ bank account and functions like a debit card. This allows purchases to be done at any merchant who accepts contactless transactions. Also, to ease accessibility, the wearables can be purchased via phone banking or at Axis Bank branches.

“With the increasing number of digital payments users, we see a huge opportunity in contactless payments, which will continue to grow, given the post pandemic situation and the need for social distancing,” said Sanjeev Moghe, executive vice president at Axis Bank. “Contactless payments are the future of payments industry in India. To tap into this market, our Wear ‘N’ Pay programme brings in convenience in contactless payments at a budget friendly price point, offering a safe and secure mode of payments on the go. Not only are these devices contemporary looking, but are also designed in a way that it becomes a part of our daily lives, thus increasing adoption of cashless transactions for everyday requirements. We are confident that the Wear ‘N’ Pay programme would be an attractive value proposition for our customers.”

There has been significant growth in adoption of contactless payments, both globally and in India. Contactless payments have been surging across the world with Mastercard reporting over 40% growth in contactless transactions globally in the first quarter of 2020.

“We are glad to support Axis Bank with this innovative contactless payment experience in India,” said Emmanuel de Roquefeuil, vice president for Thales in India. “The current time is apt to discover new secure payment methods and here contactless wearables arise as an optimal alternative. We look forward to unleashing the full digital potential of our customers and accompany them as well as possible through this fast evolving payment ecosystem.”

Tappy Technologies, headquartered in Toronto, Canada, is a wearable payment integrator connected to banking partners and card networks with operations that span across North America, Apac and Emea. Its digital offerings and white label hardware are certified by industry standards including PCI and EMVCo. Its wearable payment methods are designed to work at any contactless point-of-sale terminal, globally.

“The Indian mass market potential for contactless enabled wearables is significant and we see this expanding into use on India’s public transport systems in the future,” said Suboor Ahmed, vice president at Tappy Technologies. “With Axis Bank’s forward-thinking initiatives and Thales’ innovative development in the wearable space, Tappy is extremely proud to be a part of this collaboration to bring wearables with contactless payment functionality to more people across the globe.”

Thales has 81,000 employees in 68 countries. In 2020 the group generated sales of €17bn. It has been present in India since 1953, and has its local headquarters in New Delhi with operational offices and sites spread across Noida, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Mumbai, among others. Over 1800 employees work with Thales and its joint ventures in India.

Axis Bank is the third largest private sector bank in India. With its 4568 domestic branches and extension counters, and 11,629 ATMs across the country, its network spreads across 2521 centres.