Whilst most of us are still trying to get our heads around whether Google Glass is a great idea or just a ridiculous gimmick, companies are desperately trying to imagine how they could integrate their businesses into the new technology.
Personal finance and banking aren’t obvious candidates for integration with this face-based smart technology, but a Ukrainian bank, PrivatBank, has come up with some ideas with how they see it being used in the future.
The video (below) shows a user using Google Glass to find a cash machine, transfer money whilst driving (let’s not bring health and safety into this), pay a bill by taking a photo and pay for a tank of petrol without going in to the service station.
Without wanting to be too much of a killjoy, in most of these cases, Google Glass isn’t really enabling the user to do anything that they couldn’t do just as easily on a smartphone.
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that wearable computing is the future. Whether that means Google Glass or the much mooted Apple iWatch nobody can tell, it’s too early. Glad that the technology is getting widespread recognition and very public testing.
“I’m unsure that this video is displaying the best use of Google Glass for personal finance use, but I’m sure that as the technology develops and becomes more widely available, it will be more heavily integrated into people’s lives. I’m certainly interested to see where Google Glass will be in say 3 years or so, and how/if people are using it.
I suppose the main difference between Google Glass and a smartphone is that this technology is wearable and never really needs to be put down. Therefore, the technology is always present and always involved in the life of the user.”
There are few financial firms keeping pace with the wearable technology curve. However, customers are provided with limited functionality and instead play a passive role when interacting with the bank’s Glassware.