On March 13, Visa unveiled a payment-enabled sunglasses prototype at multiple festivals and competitions in Texas and Australia. The glasses look exactly like normal plastic sunglasses would with the addition of a tiny chip on its side. To pay using the glasses, a person would take them off and tap them on a Visa near field communication (NFC) enabled terminal, similar to how people can pay with Apple Pay, Google Wallet, and Samsung/Android Pay.
These glasses are not yet available for public sale, as Visa is assessing market demand and if any brands or banks would like to help sponsor the product. Visa has experimented with other wearables such as payment-enabled rings and wristbands.
While all of this sounds convenient and cool (imagine how trendy you would look if you just took your sunglasses off for a second and then walked away with a bag full of other cool things), my first question would be, “What’s the security outlook of this wearable?” People lose small things, especially sunglasses, when in public. The article does not mention any sort of user verification mechanism, such as a pin or ID check, as those things would conceivably make paying less convenient. Could I find someone’s forgotten sunglasses on a Starbucks table and buy every drink on the menu? I wouldn’t touch these until I know what kind of security features they have.
Source: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/13/visa-pay-with-sunglasses.html
Interesting article! It’s certainly cool to own a pair of sunglasses that can buy stuff. I often end up leaving my sunglasses behind in the car or lose them quite often. It will be interesting to see what kind of security measures will be deployed for these glasses.
I completely agree with you on your commentary. Your exact thoughts and concerns were the same as mine. I would be very concerned with the security of the transactions type payment. Even with NFC, the technology would make it easier for people to steal others’ identities and personal financial information. It seems like Visa is trying to mimic the trend that Snap is introducing. I really hope that Visa doesn’t roll out this project.