Omate is a name that’s been around for a few years, particularly in the smartwatch segment that’s taken off since the inception of Samsung’s Gear smartwatch series back in 2013 (the first device was called the Galaxy Gear, but Samsung later dropped the “Galaxy” label for the watches and moved them to Tizen). We’ve seen Omate recently announce it TrueSmart and TrueSmart+ watch lineup, with these smartwatches running full Android (not Android Wear, which is designed just for wrist wearables). Now, the company is back to take a stab at Google (Android Pay), Samsung (Samsung Pay), and Apple (Apple Pay) by partnering with Mastercard and Coin to bring mobile payments to its own smartwatches and wrist wearables.
Omate is not alone, as Moov and Atlas have also decided to join forces, and Mastercard and Coin are hoping to encourage more developers to come along and integrate the Mastercard/Coin mobile payment system into wrist wearables containing NFC (they must have NFC available).
“The great thing about the Mastercard program is that we are adding payment functionality to items that consumers are already using – fitness bands, jewelry, clothing, watches,” said Mastercard digital payments Senior VP Sherri Haymond.
Omate’s partnership with Mastercard and Coin shows that the smaller wrist wearables players in the market outside of top tech companies such as Google, Samsung, and Apple must work together in partnerships to keep their customers as up-to-date in the tech world as those of the major players.
