Litha Matala, the founder of Level Innovation, told News24 that the wearable technology company will be soft-launching its Level Ring product on Monday ahead of a full launch next month.
The Level Ring works like your bank card’s contactless feature, using the same near field communication (NFC) technology. However, payments will only be made when a user’s hand is balled into a fist to prevent someone raising a payment device to a user’s hand without their knowledge.
“The Level Ring will make payments when the owner hovers over the payment card machine with a closed fist gesture for four seconds. Therefore, the ring will not work if someone taps your ring without the owner’s hand in a Transmission Ready position,” Matala said.
He said that bad actors also wouldn’t know that the ring could facilitate payments.
“One would never know what it is until you tap on the phone to give out your business card or pay at the shops,” said Matala.
Users will also be able to load and transfer digital business cards from the device.
“Unlike smartphones and smartwatches with batteries, the Level Ring has no battery and therefore requires no charging. It is waterproof, dustproof and will also serve as a digital business card,” Matala said.
Metal and ceramic Level Rings have been developed and will be on the market for between R2 000 and R3 500.
According to Matala, the ring has been in the making for the past five years, and has been delayed due to regulatory challenges.
Vezopay, another South African wearable technology company, also took a payment ring to market this month.
Speaking to TechCentral, VezoPay founders Jake Pinkus and Lawrence Bake explained that their goal was to develop a payment solution for the smallest and most convenient part of your body to take payments to the next level.
Pinkus explained that developing the hardware and software for the product was a big challenge.
“Every single person I approached [before launching the venture] said: ‘Impossible. Don’t even bother. Don’t get involved in the payment space in South Africa. Only big companies can do it. You have got to be a bank or something.’ And I said because it’s impossible, that’s why you have got to do it.
There are three devices available for pre-order on the VezoPay website that range from a R2 100 ceramic ring, to a R25 000 rose gold 18 karat gold device.
