Banking apps: the next generation (Google Glass and Pebble Watch)

In the past two days, I’ve been notified of three new apps and tech developments that show how our world is fast emerging.

Having said that, the first of these is a bit of a reto-step: a wallet on a card, rather than a mobile.  Or  rather, a wallet on a card and a mobile.

Simply called Coin, the technology takes all of your credit cards and integrates them in one:

Shipping from Summer next year, Coin is initially limited to a US rollout, but does plan an EMV version later.  You can preorder your Coin now for $50, or $100 once it’s out there, and find out more here.

More intriguingly are the two wearable apps for banking and payments that have started to appear.

First, there’s Glasspay for Google Glass.  Here’s the demo:

As you can see, it’s just a simple app for barcode scan payments, but their description is interesting:

GlassPay is a mobile app that enables both shoppers and merchants to enjoy frictionless and economical sales transactions.

Google Glass and Android users simply scan UPC codes, assemble a “shopping cart”, make the purchase using bitcoins, and pick up merchandise in a centralized location.

GlassPay embraces bitcoins, an innovative, secure payment network and a new kind of money that uses peer-to-peer technology to operate. Bitcoins have no additional fees charged to either purchasers or retailers.

No wonder Bitcoins value has quadrupled in the past week – or is that more to do with the Fed saying it’s a legitimate currency?

Anyway, GlassPay builds upon the banking apps released for Glass that I mentioned the other day.

Finally, the soon-to-be released, crowdfunded and wearable smartwatch Pebble already enjoys its first banking app.

Developed by Intelligent Environments, it claims to be the world’s first smart watch bank for the Pebble:

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Apparently, the app can be installed on any Pebble device and allows users to view their live bank balance, recent transactions and even vibrate when near the user’s overdraft limit.

Oooh, sounds luverly.

Mind you, bearing in mind that there is also Samsung’s Galaxy Gear and Apple’s rumoured smart watch coming downstream, glasses and watches are the way to go for the next generation of mobile banking services surely?