Visa’s New Payment-Enabled Wearable Fits Like A Glove

Visa, the payments company, announced news on Wednesday (Nov. 8) of the introduction of three commercially available wearable payment devices for the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018.

In a press release, Visa, the exclusive payment technology partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, debuted three wearable payment devices, including NFC-enabled payment gloves, commemorative stickers and Olympic pins.

“We are looking forward to transforming the payment experience for everyone who attends the upcoming Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang,” said Iain Jamieson, Korea country manager, Visa, in the press release. “At Visa, we have been working tirelessly to ensure all of the Olympic venues are equipped with the very latest payment capabilities to provide the best experience possible for all those on-site.”

Visa teamed up with Lotte Card, the financial arm of South Korea-based retailer Lotte Department Store, to produce and make the new prepaid payment wearables available for purchase in Korea beginning Nov. 9. The Olympic pin, which features custom PyeongChang 2018 designs, gives fans a payment-enabled collectable pin that can be used to make payments during the event. Cost per pin is KRW5,000, plus embedded prepaid amounts valued at KRW30,000 or KRW50,000.

Visa is also launching payment-enabled gloves that will allow customers to make payments while keeping their hands warm. The gloves contain a dual interface chip housed with a contactless antenna capable of completing purchases throughout official Olympic venues and at compatible readers globally. The gloves will come with embedded prepaid amounts valued at KRW30,000 or KRW50,000, Visa said in the release.

The sticker, which boasts a thin and flexible adhesive design, has an embedded dual interface NFC-enabled chip and antenna. The micro-tags can be attached to almost anything to make payments. The wearable sticker is available in denominations of KRW30,000, KRW50,000, KRW100,000 and KRW200,000.