April 1st always prompts a slew of companies trying to get some publicity with an April Fool, and the mobile payments industry is no exception.
Barclaycard this morning released a sponsored video which announces the launch of their “PayWag” mobile payments system for dogs.
PayWag uses the same NFC contactless technology found in our Barclaycard Contactless credit cards and PayTags. With PayWag, there’s no need to fumble with cash when you’ve got your dog with you.
And here it is in action:
Actually, Barclaycard’s real PayTag is a sticker which is intended to be stuck to your mobile phone, but there’s nothing to stop you attaching it to your dog’s collar, if you really wanted to. Perhaps if your dog is a Rottweiler it’ll be even more secure than if you were to stick it on your phone.
As well as the spoof video, BarclayCard also got some activity going on Twitter with the #paywag hashtag, which seems to have caught some people out.
Fair play to Barclaycard for managing to find a way to generate some laughs and interest in contactless payments.
The best April fool prank this year was perhaps by Google mentioning that Youtube would be closed down.
Orange and Barclaycard have finally launched their combined NFC mobile payments service in the UK, as reported on Pocket-lint back in January .