Millenials love banking with wearable tech. That's according to research from Intelligent Environments (the creator of a banking app for Pebble), which found that 46% of 18 to 30 year-olds claim to have banked on some smartwatch or other wearable device since the launch of the Apple Watch in April.
The UK survey, which was based on 2,000 people, shows that 47% of 18 - 30 year-olds would prefer their bank to have an app that is compatible with wearable tech devices and 52% say they would like to manage their finances on a smartwatch.
Essential reading: The best wearable payment devices
Basically it's a 50/50 split which is much higher than most wearable tech interest studies in the UK. It's not just the under 30s either, 46% of 31 to 40 year-olds are interesting in wearable tech banking too.
Banks including NatWest, Nationwide and Barclays all have banking apps for the Apple Watch. Londoners are unsurprisingly the most active users of these kinds of banking apps on smartwatches with 49% saying they've used their bank's app for wearable devices. Northern Ireland is the second most active region at 38%, with Yorkshire coming in third with 33%.
As we've seen from Visa, CSM and House of Holland projects as well as new products like the Kerv NFC smart ring, smart jewellery and accessories have huge potential for both making contactless payments and managing money. For instance, allocate purchases to different categories with one tap of a wrist-based implant or receive small change via a bracelet. For now, smartwatches have the advantage as they allow banks to recreate elements of smartphone apps on smaller screens.
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