Encouraging more contactless payment as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology company ISBC is set to launch its first flagship Mastercard-certified contactless key fobs for payments called ISBC Pay.

With a world trying to stop a highly contagious virus, any type of contactless payment can somehow alleviate the fear of getting infected.

Invented in 2015, the key fob (a remote keyless system) was first developed to use in access control (in vehicles), transport ticketing, and bonus cards. Three years later, leading financial services firms Mastercard and Visa certified the key fob making it available in Europe as a payment wearable. Seeing the uptick in use among banks and banking consumers, the RFID firm launched it as ISBC Key. Significant improvements were made in 2021 and ISBC Key 2 was released to provide greater security and convenience for everyday use.

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With the fob key, customers can upload bank card to the ISBC Pay wearables and use it in establishments that offer the service. ISBC assures that the wearables are “protected by Mastercard’s security systems, built on the latest NXP microcontroller and offers consumers data security similar to contactless payments with a physical or virtual bank card.”

According to ISBC, there are over seven million customers worldwide across fintech, transport and access control applications, who use its wearables.

Singapore headquarters

Setting its sights on the expansion of ISBC Pay beyond Europe, ISBC set up headquarters in Singapore prior to the introduction of the service in the Asia Pacific (APAC) market this year.

“The establishment of our headquarters in Singapore underscores the importance of Asia which is seeing rapid growth and innovation in RFID technology,” said Ivan Demidov, founder and CEO of ISBC. “More consumers are embracing revolutionary solutions that are convenient, secure yet trendy all at once, and we look forward to becoming the contactless payment device of choice in Southeast Asia.”

Singapore is a key market for contactless services and payments. Based on a 2020 report by Visa, 84% of consumers in Singapore use contactless payments, indicating an increased demand for fast, secure and digitized transactions, which ISBC plans to capitalize on.

Through its global hub in Singapore, ISBC aims to connect with market leaders across Southeast Asia, with future plans to expand to Malaysia and Indonesia, and to partner with 50 banks globally by the end of this year. In preparation for future launches, ISBC is also designing prototypes of Singapore-themed key fobs to appeal to the local market.