Swatch Links With China Bank Giants for Payment Watch

ZURICH, Switzerland — Swatch Group AG is linking up with China Unionpay Co., a payments giant, and Bank of Communications Co., one of China's big-five banks, to sell a watch that can be used to make payments.

Retailing for 580 yuan ($91), the watch will be sold in China from January next year and later rolled out in Switzerland and the U.S., Chief Executive Officer Nick Hayek said at a briefing in Shanghai on Wednesday.

The watch will be sold at Bocom and Swatch outlets and can be used for payments at Unionpay point-of-sale machines across the nation, according to a statement from Swatch. A near-field communication chip beneath the dial lets the device function in a way similar to a bank card.

The product adds to the competition faced by Apple Inc.’s smartwatch, which has payment capabilities but isn’t linked in to the Unionpay network.

Talking about why the watch was being sold in China first, Hayek said that while Swatch always considered its home territory of Switzerland first, “my God, it takes months and months and years” to do something new with Swiss banks.

By Jun Luo, with assistance from Corinne Gretler. Editors: Marcus Wright, Paul Panckhurst.