Traditionally this high lofty space has been dominated by the newest and greatest television or television technology and while there were plenty of new releases on that front, the bigger news this year has been around wearable technology.
As we noted at the end of last year, one of the areas I believed we should keep an eye on is the wearables space. As the cost of pieces and parts have fallen, and crowd sourcing has entered the mainstream, more and more companies are emerging with new ideas and products that can and likely will influence clients needs and expectations. When Samsung rolled out their Samsung Galaxy Gear and watch, it seemed like something out of the Jetsons (which they highlighted on an early commercial). In the past year, wearable technology has gone mainstream and it is easily exemplified by looking no further than the popular Nike Fuel Band (and other similar technology such as fit bit). Given the fact that wearables were the most talked about theme from this year’s show, 2014 is setting up to be the year of wearable devices.
As more individuals turn to wearables and the idea of having a smart item on your wrist or embedded in your eye-wear changes from a futuristic Jetson’s technology to a mainstream “have to have it,” we as an industry need to explore how we can deliver added value to our clients in this newly emerging channel. Whether it is something as simple as pushing a fraud alert to a Galaxy watch or Google Glass or utilizing location-based services to push promotions, wearables have opened up a new channel for us to explore. Financial Institutions, meet George Jetson!
Payments hub 
