How can this popular Swiss company launch its first smartwatch in China first?
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Swatch officially presented the new watch at the landmark Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai today.
Swatch said it joined with state-run China UnionPay Co., which holds a virtual monopoly on bank-card payment processing in China, and state-controlled lender Bank of Communications Co.
Swatch, which is a company many of you guys might associate with watches, has recently announced a new watch called the Swatch Bellamy.
Swatch CEO Nick Hayek hinted as much last May when he revealed that the company is indeed working on a “payment watch”, though back then it was immediately presumed it would be a smartwatch.
Talking about why the watch was being sold in China first, Hayek said that while Swatch always considered its home territory of Switzerland first, “my God, it takes months and months and years” to do something new with Swiss banks.
The payment option will be rolled out to other partners across China in the “coming months”, Swatch says, starting in January 2016. However, the Swatch Bellamy won’t have almost the same capabilities since it’s not a connected device. This allows wearers to purchase items from contact-less terminals, similar to what the Apple Watch does with Apple Pay. Pay-by-the wrist transactions require absolutely no energy at all from the watch.
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The affordable Swatch Bellamy will sell for US $91. Swatch feels that by not connecting the Bellamy to the Internet, consumer data will be protected.
