Users of Pebble Time smartwatches will soon have the means to purchase things from their wrists, as Fit Pay is crowdfunding its smart strap dubbed Pagaré.
On Monday, Fit Pay unveiled a crowdfunding campaign via Kickstarter to bring its new payment smart strap Pagaré to the Pebble Time family of smartwatches. If the campaign happens to be successful, Pagaré will soon make it possible for users of Pebble Time, Pebble Time Steel and Pebble Time round to make contactless, risk-free payments at millions of retail locations across the globe, much like how Apple Watch and, eventually, Samsung's Gear S2 work.
Fit Pay estimates that there are 9 million retail locations all over the globe where this smart strap can be used.
"Pagaré adds a compelling new capability to the Pebble Time line up," said Fit Pay's boss and co-founder Michael Orlando. "Pagaré gives Pebble Time users access to the simplest, fastest and most secure way to pay."
Fit Pay claims the Pagaré will look "nearly indistinguishable" from a regular Pebble strap. The company said it worked directly with suppliers of Pebble to produce similar colors, materials and finish for Pebble Time smartwatches.
The company touts that this smart accessory provides a bank-level security which safeguards essential private information all the time, even when the smartwatch is lost. This strap is likewise compatible with the user's debit and credit cards by means of what the company calls "a secure, tokenized and Issuer-approved solution."
If you're interested in Pagaré, you have to splurge $49 if you're an early bird. If you want to wait for the official release of the smart strap, you will then fork $89 out of your pocket. To sweeten the pot, backers who choose to pledge $199 or more will receive a smart strap plus a Pebble Time smartwatch – a good reason to back the campaign. The target pledge goal of this Kickstarter campaign is $120,000.
With regard to the shipping date, Pagaré is pegged to come out in the middle of this year.
At any rate, when the Kickstarter campaign becomes successful, this Pebble Time smartwatch accessory should boost the overall experience for many users.
Should you want to learn more about Pagaré, head over to the Kickstarter campaign page.
