Another week, another update into wearable technology. This time, it’s high-street fashion powerhouse Topshop who are jumping on the wearable tech bandwagon. Teaming up with Barclaycard, who have been at the forefront of wearable technology since they collaborated with Lyle & Scott, Topshop are launching a line of accessories with a payment chip slot, so you can pay contactless without even taking your card out of your purse. Barclaycard and their bPay contactless payment plan have teamed up with various designers already to incorporate their payment chips into clothing and accessories. bPay rivals Apple Pay, and Visa and MasterCard users can join the fun by joining up to the digital wallet service, and the limit for contactless payment has just been raised to £30 per transaction.
The Monster Fish collection is twelve pieces ranging from £15 to £32 and includes key rings, stickers, an iPhone case and two tone wristbands with bold colours. There will be a second collection to follow with “luxe metal and snake effect design” which will hit stores later in 2015. Tami Hargreaves, commercial director of digital consumer payments at Barclay card says “This is a really exciting partnership with Topshop and marks the first time that our bPay chip is being incorporated into a product range from a major fashion retailer”. Fashion that also incorporates wearable technology, particularly contactless payment, is becoming increasingly popular. I haven’t even got a contactless debit card and they’re already old news. You can buy the accessories from Topshop, we recommend their flagship store in Oxford Circus, and online at Topshop.com from 17 November.
Holly Martin
