American Express is teaming up with Jawbone to let people make contactless payments from their fitness tracker wearable devices.
Once a cardholder has connected an eligible card to Jawbone's forthcoming UP4 system, they can tap to pay with their wearable fitness tracker anywhere American Express contactless payments are accepted in the US. The new Jawbone UP4 tracker is expected to be available for purchase on jawbone.com this summer.
Leslie Berland, executive vice president, Digital Partnerships and Development at American Express, says: "We believe this unique technology will delight our active, digitally-savvy Card Members in a powerful way and drive a new type of engagement at hundreds of thousands of merchant locations nationwide.”
The news comes on the heels of the launch of the Apple Watch, which counts payments and fitness apps among its major selling points. Others, including Barclays, have moved into wearable payments through simple wristbands.