Financial tech startup Fit Pay recently launched a new Kickstarter for its third-party Pebble Time "smartstrap" called the Pagaré. The new accessory will bring NFC payment capabilities to the smartwatch, using the power of the Pebble's smart accessory port, giving Pebble Time the same mobile wallet opportunities allowed to Apple Watch customers thanks to Apple Pay.
The Pagaré smartstrap will come in all of the same colors and finishes that Pebble creates for the Pebble Time, so that "you won't have to sacrifice your style to receive the benefits of Pagaré," according to Fit Pay co-founder and CEO Mike Orlando. The strap runs on its own battery, so with a small USB connector on one end, users will be able to charge the Pagaré smartstrap and the Pebble Time simultaneously.
Fit Pay said that its new smartstrap will be able to be used "at over 9 million point of sale terminals worldwide," including places like GameStop, Panera Bread, and Whole Foods. Similar to the Apple Watch, when the Pagaré is removed from a user's wrist it locks access to any of the payment features of the band. A four-digit passcode reactivates those features when the Pebble Time is reattached.
Pagaré has multiple layers of security to protect sensitive data. In addition to secure hardware, we leverage the same card network service as Apple Pay to replace your card number with a surrogate value called a token. This means we never need to store your credit card.
Notably, once the Pagaré app is installed on a user's phone and credit cards are scanned in, the new accessory is "a completely phone-free solution." Users will be able to pay at compatible NFC terminals using Pagaré without having their smartphone nearby. The company is looking to the future, as well, with plans to introduce transit and entertainment ticket options into the Pagaré suite of tools if the Kickstarter gets funded.
As of writing, the campaign sits at just over a $26,000 funded level with a goal of $120,000 over the next 29 days. Users interested can get in on an early bird discount of the Pagaré for $49, and once those are gone the band will cost $69 at retail price. Higher early bird reward tiers bundle in the Pebble Time ($199), Pebble Time Steel ($249), and Pebble Time Round ($249) alongside a Pagaré smartstrap.
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