CaixaBank rolls out contactless wristbands across Spain – Gemalto believes that wearable devices market is booming, with around 70 million units projected to be sold in 2017

Spain’s CaixaBank is making contactless wristbands available to customers at all of its branches, enabling customers to make payments at any of the more than 300,000 contactless terminals in Spain by simply touching the band to a merchant’s POS device. The bank began limited distribution of the bands this summer, when bank announced the largest programme in Europe to use wearable devices to make real Visa payments.

From October onwards, the wearable payment device will be available with a new design. Customers will be able to choose between different colors, and to contract them through the traditional channels.  The CaixaBank wristband is water resistant and durable, it is therefore ideally suited to the outdoor, summer lifestyles of Southern European consumers.

Each band includes an Optelio contactless MiniTag which is inserted into a slot in the wristband. Supplied by Gemalto, each MiniTag conforms to EMV standards and is linked to the wearer’s existing CaixaBank payment card. The bands offer “exactly the same security standards as a regular contactless EMV card”, Gemalto says. Payments of up to 20 euros can be made with just a tap while higher value transactions require the wearer to also enter their PIN.

These novel wearable banking devices, certified by the international payment schemes, give CaixaBank customers the freedom and security to pay everywhere they go, without the need to carry a purse or wallet. With more than four million contactless EMV payment cards now in circulation, CaixaBank’s commitment to innovative banking products has helped put Spain at the forefront of the contactless revolution in Europe, according to Gemalto.

„The wearable devices market is booming, with around 70 million units projected to be sold in 2017,” said Philippe Cambriel, President for Europe, Mediterranean and CIS at Gemalto. „In line with this major global trend, CaixaBank’s new product launch re-enforces their pioneering spirit, well proven in providing innovative technologies such as contactless cards, mobile services and now wearable devices, so as to always offer their customers the payment method that best fits their needs.”