Contactless payments: Mastercard and boAt bring tap-and-pay to wearables

Mastercard and boAt, India's leading wearables brand, have inked a pact to enable contactless payments on boAt's payment-enabled smartwatches. This collaboration will allow Mastercard cardholders to make convenient and secure transactions using their wearable devices.

Key Features:

Tap-and-Pay Functionality: Mastercard cardholders can tokenize their existing cards and make transactions up to Rs 5,000 using the Crest Pay application on their boAt smartwatches.

Enhanced Security: Powered by Mastercard's device tokenization technology, these transactions are highly secure.

Wide Availability: The feature will initially be available to Mastercard cardholders from select banks, with plans to expand to other banks in the future.

"This new feature will allow cardholders to tokenize their existing Mastercard debit and credit cards of all supported banks and enable the tap and pay functionality on their boAt smartwatch. Tap and pay allows users to transact up to Rs 5,000 via a POS device without adding a PIN, enhancing the element of convenience in everyday purchases," Mastercard said in a release.

India's wearables market has witnessed significant growth, with smartwatch shipments surging by 73.7% in 2023. This surge has led to a market size of nearly 54 million devices.

"Delivering on the promise of highly inclusive and secure payments, Mastercard is thrilled to collaborate with boat to power the launch of this innovative solution in the tap and pay segment," said Gautam Aggarwal, Division President, South Asia at Mastercard.