Swiss watchmaker Swatch has introduced a new model of Swatch watches Bellamy, with which to pay for goods and services. The device, which is a direct competitor to the smart watch Apple Watch will go on sale in January 2016 at a price of 95 dollars.
Model Swatch Bellamy got its name after the American author Edward Bellamy, who first came up with the idea of credit cards. This watch uses a microprocessor, which allows you to pay for purchases and services in stores, thus turning the watch into a credit card.
That plans to release “smart” watches, Swatch Group reported in March. However, the view of the Swiss company that is “smart” watches that are different from that mean other manufacturers such hours, for example Apple. Swatch Group immediately set out to integrate new technologies into existing models of watches. At the same time the company reported that two main areas, which it will do when working on “smart” hours, will close the technology of contactless communication (NFC) to facilitate contactless payments or open electronic locks, and Bluetooth technology. Presented in Shanghai the Swatch Bellamy is the epitome of such use of NFC technology.
To run Swatch Bellamy in China, the company joined forces with state payment system China UnionPay and the state Bank of Bank of Communications. Unlike the Apple Watch, the Swiss brand device is not connected to the Internet. At the same time models of smart hours Apple, which also can be used to pay, have no connection to the payment system UnionPay and are unable to effectively compete with Swatch on the mobile payments market in China. And this market in 2014, according to the Central Bank of China increased by 134% and reached to 22.6 trillion yuan ($3.6 trillion).
The cost of Swatch Bellamy is only 580 yuan ($91), sold watch will be from January 2016 in the stores and Swatch Bocom in China. Later it is planned to present a new product to the markets of Switzerland and the USA.
