Tag: wearable devices

Barclays intends to establish a stronger position in the UK mobile payments scene

Barclays, a leading financial institution, has announced plans to expand its mobile payments initiative in the United Kingdom. Last year, the company launched its own wearable device, which can be used to make contactless payments. Called bPay, the device has found some favor among consumers in the UK, and Barclays now plans to launch more options that will help mobile payments become more mainstream. The company intends to update its wearable device, as well as provide consumers with key fobs and stickers that can initiate a transaction.

Companies are seeing promising opportunities in the mobile industry

Like other companies, Barclays has seen a great deal of promise in the mobile payments sector. Several telecommunications companies have begun entering into this space, as well as technology companies like Apple and Samsung. In order to compete with such large companies, Barclays is working to improve its mobile payments solutions. Apple is expected to launch its new mobile payments service in the UK next month and Barclays intends to compete with the service and vie for the attention of mobile consumers throughout the country.

Cashless payments have overtaken traditional transactions in the UK

According to the UK Payments Council, cashless payments have not overtaken the use of traditional currency. Consumers throughout the UK have shown favor for using their smartphones, tablets, and wearable devices to make payments. These devices represent a more convenient way to shop for and purchase products, especially online. While relatively few merchants accept mobile payments in physical stores, this is becoming more common because of companies like Barclays that are making contactless transactions possible.

New solutions will give Barclays a fighting edge

Barclay’s new key fob and stickers will act as a type of contactless bank card, allowing consumers to pre-load these solutions with funds. Funds can be added online or via a mobile application. Consumers can have several of these solutions and manage them separately. The new solutions may help Barclays better compete with other companies that have muscled into the UK mobile payments industry.

While these wearables are highly popular, some evidence is showing that they may not be fully accurate.

In the wearable technology category, no other device is selling as quickly as fitness trackers, which is great news for companies such as Fitbit, which recently took its first steps onto the stock market.

However, experts are saying that people should be careful what information they trust from these wearables.

While experts do agree that wearable technology devices can be extremely helpful in encouraging people to set fitness and health goals, what isn’t yet known is whether or not those gadgets are actually helping users to be able to reach those goals so that they will be able to give themselves an advantage at gaining a healthier body. The advantage to these devices appears to be primarily in encouraging people to create goals and to obtain reminders to stick to those goals. Those features definitely works and a growing number of studies have shown that this is providing people with a measurable advantage.

Evidence that this wearable technology provides reliable feedback in other areas is very limited.

At the moment, research that has been conducted on the devices to show that they actually work in terms of the feedback that they provide (such as counting steps, calories burned, distance traveled, etc) is very limited. It has been conducted on small numbers or on specific groups of people, so far. There isn’t yet any reliable data with regards to use by the general population.

Fitness trackers are being seen virtually everywhere and come in many forms, such as being attached to clothing, worn on wrists, or fixed to shoes. While they are gathering a large amount of data, what isn’t known is how reliable that data is, or how that data is being used by the wearers.

What isn’t yet known is whether the steps counted, calories burned, heart rate, blood oxygen levels, and sleep quality data are accurate enough to be appropriate to guide the decisions of the wearers. The other factor is that it is not yet known if – regardless of the accuracy of the data – users are actually applying that data to improve their health and performance, particularly over the long term.