Infineon's Chip Powers Contactless Wearable NFC Payment Ring

Infineon Technologies AG’s (OTC:IFNNY) highly energy-efficient payment security chip has enabled the world's first EMVCo compliant payment ring. NFCRing Inc. has launched a tiny, water-proof smart wearable, which works like a contactless payment card.

The ring employs NFC (Near Field Communication) technology to communicate data and comes with a security chip and passive contactless antenna. This chip communicates with the terminal through its tiny passive antenna, after which it initiates the secured payment and conducts cryptographic processing.

The payment ring works like a regular NFC-enabled smartphone. Users can make payments just by holding their finger with the ring close to any NFC-compliant payment terminal.

Infineon’s security chip is the only solution currently available which could enable the creation of the NFC payment ring, while still complying with EMVCo’s stringent contactless performance requirements. EMVCo is a global standard, which facilitates interoperability and acceptance of secure payment transactions across the world.

Infineon’s chip solution has made payment with smart wearables functional and secure, similar to the ubiquitous bank card, though in a much more convenient way.

Undoubtedly, this solution has a lot of appeal considering that it is hardly safe to walk around with bundles of cash these days. Furthermore, proximity payments based on NFC technology have been gaining traction in recent times, and such payment solutions with smart wearables are likely to accelerate this trend.

The NFC ring was initially made available only to athletes who participated in the recent Rio 2016 Olympics. Pre-orders for the NFC ring, which comes with a price tag of £40, are being booked right now.

INFINEON TECH Price and Consensus

Infineon’s security solutions have been employed in nearly half of all payment chip cards issued in 2015 globally.

The company’s chip solutions allow secured payment functions to be installed in innovative form factors. In fact, Infineon has customized its contactless technology for payment applications with the smallest smart wearables.

There is a huge potential market for Infineon’s technology, as the number of smart wearables is slated to rise from 119 million at present to 340 million by 2020, according to IHS Markit 2016.

Despite the long-term growth potential, the cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry and stringent competition have proved to be significant headwinds for the company. Additionally, persistent softness in the macroeconomic environment has been hurting the global smartphones market, which is a concern for this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) company.

Some better-ranked stocks in the same space include Alpha & Omega Semiconductor, Ltd. (NASDAQ:AOSL) , Amkor Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMKR) and FormFactor Inc. (NASDAQ:FORM) , each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).