MasterCard Worldwide is teaming with Turkey's Garanti Bank for the European launch of a wrist watch featuring its contactless payments technology PayPass.
Garanti Bank, which was the first bank in Europe to launch a MasterCard PayPass credit programme, will issue the limited edition PayPass watches to holders of its contactless credit cards.
Customers can use the watches as a replacement to cash when paying for purchases under EUR15. Payments can be made by tapping the watch against a specially-equipped PayPass reader.
Cathleen Conforti, global PayPass product manager, MasterCard Worldwide, says: "Contactless payments have a major role to play in the replacement of cash in European commerce. The launch of a highly innovative payment device like this watch in partnership with Garanti Bank is just one of the ways we are bringing fast, convenient and secure alternatives to cash to the European market."
The issuance of the watches in Europe follows the launch in June 2006 of a football-themed PayPass-equipped watch by Taiwan's Chinatrust Bank last year to coincide with the FIFA World Cup in Germany.