Paying by cash is troublesome. You would need to keep a sufficient amount in your wallet and if you don’t have exact change, you’ll end up with bulky coins in your pocket. While Touch ‘n Go is gaining momentum in stores, here’s another way to pay without cash.
Maybank together with Visa has just announced the PayBand, the first payment wearable in Malaysia. According to Visa, Malaysians are moving towards contactless transactions and they are more likely to shop at a place that accepts one.
How it works is somewhat similar to the Maybank’s Visa payWave Microtag, which is a sticker that you can stick onto your smartphone. Details of Maybank’s Visa PayBand isn’t available on their site, but if it follows the same mechanism, you can make payments up to RM250 without the need of signatures or pin numbers. Think of it as a Touch ‘n Go in a wristband form and it charges directly to your credit card.
In terms of acceptance, it will work with Visa PayWave terminals throughout Malaysia. Just like that PayWave enabled credit card, you would need to wave it in less than 4cm from the terminal to make a payment. This apparently is better than handing over a physical card as there’s no chance for merchants to obtain your full card details. You can learn more about its availability here.
The PayBand device isn’t entirely new as Barclaycard had introduced this in the UK in wristband, keychain fob and sticker format. So if you’re going for a jog, you can stop for coffee or breakfast without carrying your wallet. We have yet to see the Payband ourselves and we are curious to know if there are offering customisable band options.
With most smartphones and even smartwatches these days supporting NFC, we are still surprised that mobile NFC payments have yet to catch on in Malaysia. There were several attempts by Maxis with FastTap, in collaboration with CIMB and Maybank. Unfortunately, it was short-lived and we haven’t heard of them since. Carrying an extra band would be quite cumbersome if you’re already wearing a smartband or a smartwatch. Having SamsungPay and Apple Pay in Malaysia would be a more elegant solution don’t you think?
Would you consider getting a Visa PayBand? Let us know in the comments below.
