Smart technologies are getting smaller and more powerful as they move from the wrist to the finger while the smart jewelry business continues to build a market presence. An area of the personal tech space that has been slow to develop due to the difficulty in perfecting the underlying technology, smart rings are becoming more attractive without as many quirky bugs, making it an ideal time for NXT-ID (NXTD) to look to carve out market share. After acquiring Fit Pay in May to add platform-as-a-service capabilities to their comprehensive Internet of Things product bag, NXT-ID has wasted no time diving into the burgeoning jewelry business, announcing that its subsidiary Fit Pay is implementing its technology in new smart rings of Token.

Fit Pay’s proprietary payment security technology, fittingly, uses tokenization. In tokenization, a user’s account information is replaced with a “token,” a unique digital identifier for highly secure contactless payment and authentication services. By leveraging Embedded Secure Element chip technology, devices using Fit Pay technology provide many other benefits, including minimal power consumption and operating independent of host devices of Internet connection.

Looking like regular jewelry, smart rings are chock full of miniature technologies, using things such as near field communication, Bluetooth and advanced encryption to make payments, start cars, deliver alerts, keep track of heart rate and much more as part of the next transformation in the connected world.

Token is the latest brainchild of tech entrepreneurs Melanie and Steve Shapiro, who previously founded Digsby, a company that specialized in managing online social identities eventually acquired by Tagged, which in turn became part of The Meet Group (MEET).

Token Launch Video from Token on Vimeo.

The Token ring, which is taking pre-orders now for shipment in December, aims to make people’s lives easier by replacing day-to-day credentials, such has credit cards, house and car keys, passwords and more. What Token is bringing to market is more than just a facelift to wearables today, it’s a seminal moment in the next generation of credential amalgamation, identification and security.

“Innovative devices like Token are transforming the payment experience for consumers by combining secure authentication and a frictionless transaction into a sleek, fashionable form factor,” said Michael Orlando, president of Fit Pay, Inc. and COO of NXT-ID. “They are helping to push the adoption of contactless payment towards an inflection point.”

How’s It Work?

An ultra-compact fingerprint sensor in the base of Token coupled with an optical proximity sensor underpin a proprietary continuous two-factor authentication method to ensure only the proper user can access the protected credentials. Token is all about universal security, not fitness or other features. Imagine accessing your computer and any domain requiring a password, making purchases, starting your car, badging into secure buildings and rooms, entering your house or riding the subway just by wearing a ring. That’s what Token makes happen.

For mobile devices, the Token app supplies the connectivity. For non-mobile devices, Token worked with the companies like Microsoft (MSFT) to ensure that Token’s API is supported by the major browsers, allowing Token users to access password-protected sites. Akin to how Alexa, the countertop assistant of Amazon.com (AMZN), is awoken by calling her name, a Token action is initiated with a simple double knock on a hard surface.

Take off the ring and Token disables itself, only being re-activated through fingerprint authentication.

Fit Pay’s platform will provide the payment capabilities for Token, including full digital wallet functionality, enabling contactless payments with an existing credit card. Fit Pay will also connect Token to its Trusted Payment Manager™ (TPM™) platform, which is integrated with the leading card networks, and power the digital wallet functionality within the application that supports the device.

“Our vision is to offer a device that streamlines the process of authentication throughout the day, while simultaneously protecting users from identity fraud using advanced cryptography,” said Token CEO Melanie Shapiro in the announcement of the partnership. “As we looked to add essential services to Token, contactless payment capabilities were a must-have and Fit Pay platform offered the best end-to-end solution for our users.”

Redefining Smart Cards Too

The business with Token is the latest new use for NXT-ID technology. The company is also making waves in the smart card market, recently disclosing that it has shipped about 60,000 of its new flye™ smart cards to WorldVentures™, a direct seller of global travel and leisure club memberships. Again, a bundle philosophy underscores the cards to make member’s lives simpler, with the flye card facilitating payments, loyalty rewards, and even concierge-type services. Following a successful beta run, the world’s newest smart cards are being rolled out to the more than 500,000 WorldVentures members worldwide.


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