SEOUL, South Korea—Samsung is looking to turn wearables into prepaid cards.
Instead of giving devices like smartwatches and smart rings the full power of a credit card, Samsung plans to treat them more like prepaid credit cards, loaded with a specific amount of cash and unable to charge any more than that, according to a report by The Verge.
“The idea is to put limits on what a wearable can be used to buy. That could allow for a couple things: it would make them less of a problem if lost or stolen, since the devices wouldn't be able to make large charges. And Samsung imagines it could also be a useful way for parents to give money to their children, since they could put a limit on it,” The Verge explained.
In addition to limiting the amount of money placed on a mobile payment device, Samsung would also let owners put time limits on when the funds can be used. If they weren't used up before the time limit, access to the card would disappear, The Verge noted.
This is all part of a new payments service Samsung is calling the Contactless Companion Platform, or CCP.