Watch Pay
According to sources in the financial industry on June 24, Shinhan Card has recently made it possible to use its mobile payment apps on smart watches, including the Shinhan app card, Shinhan Smart Manager, and All That Shopping and Wallet. Shinhan Card's mobile payment service is only available on certain smart watches compatible with Android phones – the G Watch R, the G Watch Urbane, the Moto 36, the SmartWatch 3, and the ZenWatch.
“We are going to expand the reach of our services to the Apple Watch, the Galaxy Gear series, and Tizen-powered smart watches,” said Shinhan Card in a statement.
With the nation's largest credit card company joining the trend, competition to make mobile payment services available on wearable devices is expected to intensify. In particular, the rapid growth of smart watches as new smart devices following smartphones is predicted to lead to the speedy growth of the related market as well. Market research firm IHS iSuppli estimates that total smart watch shipments will increase from a mere 3.6 million units in 2014 to 110 million units in 2020.
In Australia, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank launched a mobile payment service called “redy” last year, which is only available on the Galaxy Gear series. Westpac Bank is test-operating its payment services based on Google Glass.
An official in an IT company said, “According to global market research firms, the smart watch market will grow to the extent that per 20 smartphones, one smart watch will be sold in 2020,” adding, “Accordingly, competition to make mobile payment services available on smart watches is likely to heat up.”