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Mondaine to Offer Payment Chips for Watches at No Extra Charge

  • Watchmaker's PayChip can be transferred to multiple timepieces
  • Smart watchbands are another possibility, CEO Bernheim says
A PayChip removable contactless payment chip is shown inserted into a Mondaine luxury wristwatch.

A PayChip removable contactless payment chip is shown inserted into a Mondaine luxury wristwatch.

Photographer: Michele Limina/Bloomberg

Swiss watchmaker Mondaine has a solution for consumers who don’t always wear the same wristwatch yet want a smartwatch: a removable payment chip that can fit into other Mondaine timepieces.

Mondaine will start offering its PayChip, which can make mobile payments with NFC technology, as an extra for some of its watches for no added cost by August, Chief Executive Officer Andre Bernheim said in an interview at the Baselworld fair Thursday. They will first go on sale in Switzerland and may enter three other markets in Europe this year. The watches start at 200 francs ($206).