Fitbit hopes to help consumers shape up their digital wallets

Fitbit devices are known for being easy-to-use fitness products, but now the company is branching out. Fitbit recently announced its purchase of financial technology and electronics company Coin.

By acquiring Coin, Fitbit has positioned itself on the road to launching its own mobile payments technology next year. Wearable payments technology, that is.

Although Coin’s current Coin 2.0 product—a single smart card designed to replace a consumer’s numerous credit and debit cards—may have been enticing, it was not Fitbit’s primary motivator for the acquisition. Rather, Fitbit’s interest involved Coin’s near field communication (NFC) technology. Fitbit says it will use the acquired technology to incorporate NFC payments into future devices.

In many ways, it makes sense to envision Fitbit trackers as mobile wallets, since smartwatches already do this. However, Fitbit’s popularity could give wearables with mobile payments a shot in the arm.

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