WORK HARD, PAY HARD: Use the Jawbone Up4 to pay at US AmEx contactless terminals

Wearable device maker Jawbone has unveiled a fitness tracking wristband that can be linked to the wearer’s American Express card account and used to make NFC payments.

US card members with an Up4 tracker “will be able to connect an eligible American Express card via the latest Up app for iOS or Android”, American Express explains.

“The payment information associated with your Amex Payments for Up4 is a separate and unique number from your plastic card called a ‘Digital Account Number’. We do not share your plastic card account number with Jawbone and only your Digital Account Number is used for payments with your Up4.”

“Only one card can be connected to Up4 and you cannot switch the card once it is connected,” Amex adds. “Once a card member has connected an eligible card to the Up4 system, they can tap to pay with their wearable fitness tracker anywhere American Express contactless payments are accepted in the US.”

The wristband can also be used to launch the Amex mobile app by tapping the band to the user’s mobile phone, says the company.

“We believe this unique technology will delight our active, digitally savvy card members in a powerful way and drive a new type of engagement at hundreds of thousands of merchant locations nationwide,” says Leslie Berland, executive vice president of digital partnerships and development at American Express.

“We asked ourselves the question, if you are wearing an Up band 24/7 what is the integration that would make your life simpler, more convenient and just more efficient? The answer for us was payments,” adds Travis Bogard, Jawbone’s vice president of product management and strategy.

The Jawbone Up4 tracker features advanced activity, sleep and heart health tracking, and is expected to be available for purchase in the US this summer for US$199.99.

“We don’t have any information to share on Up4 availability outside the US,” Jawbone told NFC World.