SAN FRANCISCO—Fitbit, which makes activity-tracking smartbands and phone apps, announced it is purchasing Coin, the San Francisco-based payments developer of the credit card-emulating Coin card.
As a number of analysts have predicted, the growing appeal of wearables will lead to more entrants in the mobile payments space.
Digital Trends reported that the move is likely being made not to invest in any current Coin products but to instead bring Coin’s NFC, mobile, and wireless talent on board for future Fitbit projects.
“Fitbit is hoping the acquisition advances its designs on mobile payments, specifically in the form of an active NFC payment solution that could be embedded into future Fitbit devices,” the website stated.
However, according to a release from Fitbit, there are no plans to integrate Coin’s wearable payments technology into Fitbit products during 2016.