Visa is now the look at St Jerome’s Laneway Festival with WaveShades – the latest innovation in wearable ways to pay

01/30/2017

Visa's collaboration with sunglasses manufacturer Local Supply & wearable FinTech, INAMO will see prototype payment sunnies trialled at national St Jerome’s Laneway Festival music events.

Visa, the global payments technology company, is using its longstanding partnership with the St Jerome’s Laneway Festival to pilot the latest innovation in wearable technology – a pair of sunglasses that can make contactless payments. 

Visa’s WaveShades, designed by Local Supply, has been developed in partnership with wearable payment specialists, INAMO, and carry a secure payment chip in the arm of the accessory. An edgy pair of sunglasses is a mainstay for music festival-goers, who also don’t always want to be weighed down with cash whilst dancing the day away.

The Laneway events represented the perfect opportunity to showcase what’s possible in payment technology today, as well as launch a new Visa campaign that will show Australian consumers how Visa’s technology, partnerships and innovations are powering future ways to pay.

At each of the five Australian events (Adelaide, Brisbane, Fremantle, Melbourne and Sydney), Visa’s WaveShades can be used to make purchases at terminals that accept contactless payments. Whilst the sunglasses will not be available for general purchase ahead of time, it is hoped a successful pilot could result in them being offered for sale in the future.

The trial follows the introduction of an NFC-enabled payment ring for Team Visa athletes during the Rio Olympics, as well as wearable pay bands, which were also designed for active use. Visa’s WaveShades feature Visa payWave technology and can be loaded with a specific amount of funds, much like a prepaid card.

Frederique Covington, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Asia Pacific at Visa said: “The financial services environment is evolving at an unprecedented pace, which is exemplified by consumers’ changing relationship with payments. The Visa WaveShades pilot is all about showing Australians that innovation in how we pay can make their lives simpler and everyday experiences seamless and rewarding.

“Having been involved in the St Jerome’s Laneway Festival for four years, we know that a wallet or purse can be a bulky inconvenience, especially at a music event where people want to move around and be free. WaveShades were designed with Australian festival goers in mind, representing the next stage in innovative, yet secure and pragmatic payments solutions.”

Commenting on the collaboration, Local Supply founder, Sean Satha said: “Local Supply came about because there was a genuine appetite for stylish, yet practical, everyday sunglasses that wouldn’t break the bank. Nothing says practicality more than an everyday fashion mainstay that you can also use as a way to pay.”

Australia is at the forefront of the digital payments revolution: 79% of face-to-face Visa transactions are via Visa payWave, amounting to 147.6 million monthly Visa payWave transactions*. In addition, a YouGov Survey from September 2015 showed that 81% of consumers say they would use their smartphone for everyday purchases if the option were available to them, demonstrating an appetite for using everyday accessories to make paying more seamless.

The WaveShades pilot coincides with the launch of Visa’s new innovation campaign – Visa is now – which aims to show Australians how Visa’s innovations are transforming people’s lives and powering smoother, faster, and seamless ways to pay today, and into the future.

*VisaNet data, September 2016

 

Media contact
Samantha Vogts
Corporate Communications, Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific
Visa
02 9253 8811 or 0407 456 091
[email protected]

 

About Visa
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments. We operate one of the world's most advanced processing networks — VisaNet — that is capable of handling more than 56,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and assured payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa's innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, pay ahead of time with prepaid or pay later with credit products. For more information visit www.visa.com.au and @VisaNewsAU.