If you’re hip enough to be walking down your city streets with a Samsung Galaxy Gear 2, Gear Neo or even Galaxy Gear, and you have a Paypal account, then you’re in for a treat.
Paypal is testing a new payment method on their campus that links together Bluetooth low energy beacons and Samsung Galaxy watches. With this new system, Gear users will be able to pay for things with their Gear watches without the need for a debit card or even their smartphone.
The new payment method will alert a customer when they walk into a business with the Paypal wearable platform. Once the Gear device receives that notification, the POS system receives a notification as well, along with that customers picture. Now the customer service agent or server can address the customer by name. Finally, when it’s time to pay the customer can elect to use their Paypal account. A confirmation message will be sent to the users Gear device and then they will have to confirm the payment.
The idea is to use the Paypal wearable app at business that users frequent a lot. If the user is a creature of habit and goes to the same Starbucks every morning and gets the same thing, they will soon be able to make their purchase with a nod and a tap of a button on their watch.
“Overall, PayPal employees that have used Beacon and/or Samsung Gear 2 smartwatch have loved their experience and are excited for the larger rollout” Kathy Chui, Senior PR manager at Paypal San Jose CA told Mobile Commerce Daily.
There’s no target date on when Paypal will rollout the technology on a larger scale, but we expect that it will be before the end of this year. Samsung is relying on partnerships with big companies like Paypal to drive the adoption of their new wearable. They recently announced a developer contest with $1.25 million in prize money.