Airtel launches smartwatch with RuPay chip for contactless payments
Airtel Payments Bank on Wednesday introduced a smartwatch with support for National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) technology at the Global Fintech Fest 2024 in collaboration with Noise and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The Airtel Payments Bank Smartwatch comes with an integrated RuPay chip that enables transactions from the user’s wrist. It has been launched as a payments-cum-fitness solution, with health and fitness monitoring features built into the device. The announcement comes a day after the Indian telco discontinued its Wynk Music streaming service in favor of new bundle packages that include Apple TV+ and Apple Music.
Airtel Payments Bank Smartwatch Features
The Airtel Payments Bank Smartwatch comes with an embedded RuPay chip on the watch face for instant payments on the go, the company said in a press release. It also offers NCMC integration, which brings support for tap-and-pay transactions. With this integration, the smartwatch supports payments at merchant locations and on transit systems in metros, buses, parking facilities and more in India. Users can choose to enable/disable contactless payments from the smartwatch.
In addition, it can also take into account the issuance of transport concessions and monthly passes, if applicable. Users can also make payments at contactless terminals, with a limit of Rs. 5,000 without entering their PIN. Payments made above the above limit will require entering the PIN.
The new Airtel Payments Bank Smartwatch also comes with traditional health and fitness monitoring features including blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure monitoring. It is also claimed to be able to track 130 sports modes and users can customize it with a selection of over 150 cloud-based watch faces.
The smartwatch also supports Bluetooth calling and is IP68 dust and water resistant. Airtel say It has a TFT LCD display with a brightness of 550 nits. It also displays notifications, call reminders and messages when connected to the smartphone, similar to other smartwatches. The Airtel Payments Bank smartwatch promises a battery life of up to 10 days on a single charge.
The Airtel Payments Bank smartwatch price in India has not been announced yet, but the company says it will be available soon across both the bank’s online and retail platforms.
