Apple Pay adoption rates aren’t looking too rosy as of late, but that doesn’t mean that contactless payment is doomed. Really, it just needs a makeover. And thanks to a new partnership between bPay and Topshop, that makeover is a pretty imaginative one. After all, who wouldn’t want to pay with a googly-eyed sticker? On Wednesday, Barclays and the fashion retailer announced their Topshop x bPay collection, described as “a range of Topshop-designed accessories that incorporate bPay by Barclaycard contactless payment technology.”
Instead of holding your iPhone or Apple Watch up to a scanner, you can now choose from a whole range of creative wearable tech to use in payment transactions. In fact, you may become so enamored with these new contactless payment methods that you’ll find yourself buying things just to flash your key chain, your smartphone case, your wristband, or yes, of course, your sticker, all of which contain a small bPay contactless chip. This chip is in turn linked “to a secure digital wallet, enabling customers to shop with style and ease wherever they see the contactless symbol.”
This line of tap-and-go jewelry and accessories will allow UK customers to make purchases up to £30, and will be accepted at over 300,000 retail locations nationwide. Unfortunately for those of us in the United States, you have to have a UK-registered Visa or MasterCard debit or credit card in order to gain access to the Topshop x bPay collection.
Still, for British customers, this latest introduction is a welcome light-hearted iteration of wearable technology that is widely accessible to a wide range of consumers — you can own your own piece of the 12-item collection for between £15 and £32. “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,” said Tami Hargreaves, Commercial Director, Digital Consumer Payments at Barclaycard said. “The collaboration shows how the worlds of fashion and technology can combine to create a stylish and easy new way for people to pay using contactless, for everyday things — be it a morning coffee, a new lipstick, or a bus trip across town.”
