Bankwest Halo, Australia's first wearable payment ring, celebrates second birthday with bumper usage stats
New Bankwest research on spending habits reveals a growing level of comfort with wearable payment technologies in Australia and a massive upsurge in their use in December and January.
Analysis of the past 12 months' usage of Bankwest's Halo payment ring (launched in Jan 2018) shows a dramatic increase in customers' reliance on the wearable technology by more than 200 per cent over Christmas.
The analysis also shows how Australians are becoming gradually more comfortable with using wearable payment technologies to meet their spending needs in their everyday lives.
In 2019, customers with both a Bankwest Debit Mastercard®1 and Bankwest Halo ring2 used the ring for more than a third (36%) of all their purchases, up from 28 per cent in 20183, with 31 per cent of the total value of all payments made at an EFTPOS terminal in 2019 being made with the ring4.
Bankwest Executive General Manager Technology and Transformation Andy Weir said the research aligned with the existing trend of Australians being early adopters of new technologies.
"The use of the Bankwest Halo, coupled with a 90 per cent increase in app logins in the past five years, shows how Australians adapt quickly to our rapidly changing digital world," he said.
"When we first launched the Bankwest Halo we knew one of its main drawcards was its convenience, because it's always at hand – literally – it's hard to lose and doesn't need charging.
"Australian consumers expect ease and convenience when shopping and spending, and wearable tech fits in seamlessly with our lives, especially at busy times of year like Christmas."
