Yesterday we reported on a rumor that Jawbone was set to announce a new wearable with a mobile wallet feature built into it. It looks like those rumors were true as the company has officially announced the Jawbone Up4. The company has also teamed up with American Express which also means that the mobile wallet feature will only be available for users with AmEx credit cards.
This is admittedly a bit limiting but if you have an AmEx card then this shouldn’t really be an issue for you. However it seems that the experience might not necessarily be seamless. You will still need to log into your AmEx app or the website to check on your transaction history, versus being able to see it all inside the Jawbone app itself. According to AmEx, this is meant to protect sensitive customer data.
Speaking of security, the Jawbone Up4 and AmEx will be using the same tokenization technology found in Apple Pay. Basically this means that during the transaction, your credit card number will not be shown. Instead each transaction will generate a token that verifies said transaction meaning that should hackers intercept the payment, they won’t be able to gain access to your credit card number.
As for the fitness tracker itself, the Jawbone Up4 will be similar in hardware and design as the Jawbone Up3. The main difference is that it will come with an NFC chip embedded into it that will allow the mobile wallet feature to work, and that it will cost $199 which is slightly more expensive than the Up3. It is expected to begin shipping this summer.
Filed in . Read more about Fitness, Jawbone and Wearable Tech.