Your morning runs are about to get way more “connected.”
Fitbit, a popular provider of wearable technology, announced today that it has acquired mobile payment technology from Silicon Valley startup Coin. Terms were not disclosed.
The company said:
The deal includes key personnel and intellectual property specific to Coin’s wearables payment platform. While there are no plans to integrate Coin’s wearable payments technology into the 2016 Fitbit product roadmap, the acquisition accelerates Fitbit’s ability to develop an active NFC payment solution that could be embedded into future Fitbit devices, broadening its smart capabilities.
NFC (formally Near Field Communication) technology allows your step tracker or other wearable device to make purchases at the POS. In other words, you may soon be able to swipe your Fitbit and get lattes.
“Coin has been one of the key innovators in advanced payment solutions,” Fitbit CEO James Park said in a statement. “The inclusion of their payment technology into our offerings will further our strategy of making Fitbit products an indispensable part of people’s lives.”
Coin 2.0, a smart payment device introduced last year, is not included in the acquisition, according to Fitbit, but will no longer be sold.
Earlier this month, Fitbit said it had around 13 million active users of its wearable technology at yearend 2015. There is no indication as to how many are expected to convert and use the payment technology, but for now, the idea of not having to carry a credit card or a smartphone for your workout sessions seems enticing.