You can now pay with cryptocurrency without your phone or any other electronic device - all you need is a wristband!
Bitcart, an irish platform for discount gift cards, has just launched Festy - a wearable with which you can pay in DASH.
The wristband has integrated QR codes and NFC technology, and is designed primarily for festival users to pay for their food and drinks.
How does it work?
You can use Festy without any app, smartphone, or other electronic device.
The wristband is linked directly to the user's dash wallet, so that they can pay with access to their dash funds and complete transactions within a matter of seconds through the InstantSend technology. The funds are not stored on the Festy platform, but rather on the wallet itself.
Of course the merchant accepting the payment can scan the wristband with a specific device, receive the dash funds on his wogn wallet, and exchange them to fiat currency later on.
The transactions are secure - no private keys or card numbers are displayed during the process, and the users can top up their wristbands through specific ATMS or their online dash account.
“Our partnership with Dash makes the perfect payment solution for everyday transactions. Unlike existing traditional bank payments that take a two-five per cent fee, there is no cost on receiving Dash for merchants. Merchants accepting payments will never have a chargeback, and there are potentially enormous savings to be made compared to the crippling fees from existing payment solutions.”-Bitcart CEO Graham de Barra
Why Festy?
The Festy wristband's main purpose is for Festival users, as the name suggests.
Everybody who has been to a festival knows this problem - if you don't have enough cash on you, you can expect to deal with long lines and high fees at ATM machines.
And even if some Festivals started accepting payments via smartphones - you don't have signal at most Festivals anyway, and many people don't even like to carry their phones around there due to the high risk of losing it or getting it stolen.
But the same think also goes for Bars - it's just much more convenient to pay with a wearable instead of having to carry around cash.
“This is a product my friends and I would use, because who wants to take their personal belongings to a bar or festival when you don’t have to. And who wants to keep counting cash at the bar and putting change in your pocket? No one. Merchants are going to love it too. Incredibly low fees, lower than a debit and credit cards, and by the time they scan the wearable chip, the money transfer has been executed and settled, with no risk of a double charge or fraud.
There’s a growing amount of real world use cases for Dash as an attractive payment option, and it’s an exciting time ahead.-Daniel Diaz, Dash VP of business development
Where can Festy be used?
Generally, Festy is compatible with any Point of Sale System that accepts Visa contactless payments, or any smartphones / computers with NFC tags. You can even complete offline payments via the integrated QR codes.
Right now, the first prototypes of Festy are being used at the Opera Incubator, a Blockchain Conference and Hackathon in Cork, Ireland.
The attendees get given a wristband that's already topped up as an invitiation to purchase food or drinks with them, or even tip the musician.
After this testing phase, the commercial stage is scheduled to beginn in early autumn.
What do you think about the idea of a cryptocurrency wearable?
© Sirwinchester
well, nice tool to have!
that's an awesome idea! Just a taste of whats to come in the future lol
This is very cool ! And shows the future of some day steem being just as easy or acceptable all over the world ! 👍👍👍
soooo cool i totally agree ic ant wait for that day im excited
Imagine paying with steem as easily as that! that would be awesome!
Haha ! Yes for sure , I would love it ! 👍💙
Hi @sirwinchester I've published an article about you, check it if you can, thanks.
29 Best Steemians Of The Day To Follow 29th July 2017
https://steemit.com/blog/@jzeek/29-best-steemians-of-the-day-to-follow-29th-july-2017
Love it :))
yup !!👍👍👍
What happens when someone steals your wrist band?! Are there measures to protect you crypto from being stolen?
i doubt it. but u wouldn't wanna carry a wallet with $1000 in it anyways. just load it with an amount u need for the day.
Yes, I wonder about that too. The articles and press releases I read didn't mention it.
I guess in this case there is no additional protection since the wristband is supposed to be tightly around your wrist (it can't fall off), and yes you'Re only "supposed to" load it with whatever you need for the day
I wonder though if this will actually take off, because couldn't you just program your apple watch or samsung watch to do this also?
If the samsung watch has NFC integrated (I'm not sure?), then yes.
For the apple watch I guess the only solution would be to integrate it with apple pay (and apple is still a long way from doing that with crypto)
But yes I guess in general you're right.
The idea for this specific wristband is just that you don't have to carry any electronics or anything valuable around when you're on a festival.
Better be pretty secure. You think people getting robbed for normal watches and jewelry out in the open, than people start wearing these crypto bracelets.. Walking bank machine in some eyes.
All it needs is a fingerprint scanner lol
Agreed, the concept is great & convenient. Just what crypto needs.
I suspect there is some element of security that we're not seeing. If all I need is your QR code, what would stop me from charging you many times (maybe that is the NFC element that was mentioned).
Very interesting. This is the first time I have heard of this.
AWESOME STUFF glad i got some dash atm
cryptocurrency is the best
Wearable is a great idea when talk about convenient and ease of use. However, when it comes to security wearable might risk your wallet with any kind of malform.
Its a bad idea to show in the public any devices link your wallet, it become prey to any form of malform.
amazing post dear
Amazing, it will be a wonderful experience! :-) Upvoted
Exciting times! I wouldn't mind a free top up of my DASH wallet. :D
Clearly, this technology has enormous potential. The only real hurdle I see if getting show promoters to understand it and make it a standard on the festival grounds. Outstanding post, Sir Winchester! Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention!
no way... wow
This changes everything!! 🤓🤓
Greetings, mate! Cryptocurrencies are becoming more and more popular nowadays, so I won't be surprised if we will be able to buy Festy wristband very soon! Technologies are amazing :) Followed and upvoted, cheers!
Thats really sweet!... Wondering if other currencies (steem) could do something like this?
I am giving this a read after your visit on my post :D thank you for the generosity.
I'd consider getting myself a festy! although I already have my own wallet, Could be useful when I am not near ATM and with a limited cash
Bonne journée !
This is a pretty cool concept.
Upvoted and also resteemed :)
Interesting tech. But I think to get mainstream it needs to address a broader field, inlcude more coins and have an extra security to prevent robbery.
I am waiting for the wristband that allows Steem.
Thank you very much for sharing.
Would there be a process to halt an unintended transaction? Interesting concept, but seems there should be some secondary authentication step.
Keep telling people DASH is very underrated...wait til they start swiping all the PayPal and payza users...
Very interesting
This is insane WOW! Interesting and insane in the same time.
Thanks for the news! It's developing so fast!
this is next level crypto invention. really cool if its secured with fingerprint scanner to deter theft.
Wow this is a cool tech gadget.
I'm a bit concerned about peoples safety though, seeing that it doesn't require a pin code or some other form of authentication. It's a bit like having your creditcard attached to your arm and flashing it to everyone which could entice unscrupulous people to try and steal it.
Nevertheless, I think it has great potential :)
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