Zobe’s Ring Gives Contactless Payments New Look

The ring has an NFC built into it that transmits encrypted data during transactions.

A growing number of people throughout the world are using contactless payments. From cards housing Near Field Communication (NFC) technology that enables transactions to take place without physical touch between the payment device and the terminal to proposals that eliminate the need for a physical card altogether.

Majeed Jega noticed the potential of bringing Octopus cards to Nigeria when he first handled one while traveling through Asia. The concept was inspired by the Octopus card, a multipurpose contactless card that may be used for public transportation, payments, and, in certain situations, student attendance at school.

Jega then set out to construct Zobe Technologies. He chose to develop wearables with a cutting-edge NFC chip that would revolutionize how we pay and interact with one another rather than making another card. The Zobe Ring is the first of these devices.

The Zobe Ring seems like a simple piece of jewelry at first look. However, beneath its gleaming ceramic and metallic exterior is a passive NFC chip that can manage a variety of tokenized use cases, such as digital keys, digital identities, and payments.

The Zobe Ring functions in the same way as a contactless card. Through the Zobe mobile app, customers may attach their current bank card to the ring and use it to make payments in lieu of a physical card, just like tapping a bank card.

Now, the ring basically serves as your card which would be worn in your finger depending on the finger. Jega, the founder and CEO of Zobe Technologies, tells Techpoint Africa, “You just put the ring on top of the POS device and then you get debited from the card that you link to it.”

Users can construct digital personas that are simple to share with others through the second use case, Zobe Share. Therefore, simply clicking the ring on a smartphone sends the user’s data to the other person’s phone if they need to exchange contact information or business cards during a gathering.

Jega further says as he describes the feature, [If] you meet someone you want to share your business card with, you can just tap the ring on their phone; they can save it to their contact list and your ID will appear on their phone.”

The Zobe Ring’s final application is as an electronic key for electric cars. This feature is being introduced by the corporation with Tesla vehicles. Instead of using a car key, the ring enables users to access and operate their vehicles.

“You can use the Zobe Ring to open and operate your Tesla instead of the Tesla key.”

Under the hood, the technology of the NFC chip that doesn’t require a battery powers the Zobe Ring. These days, a lot of contactless cards make use of NFC technology, which enables transactions to be completed without coming into contact with the device.

Nonetheless, NFC technology that facilitates numerous “tap and go” interactions is built into the Zobe Ring. When the chip is brought close to an NFC reader—such as a smartphone, POS terminal, or car locking system—it transmits the data required for the requested operation. The chip holds tokenized credentials.

Jega continues by saying that the Zobe Ring never stores unencrypted bank or card information in order to lower the possibility of fraud. An encrypted digital token is used in place of the card number and other private data when a user links their bank card through the Zobe mobile app. The token is safely inserted into the chip of the ring.

“Your data is not exposed if someone picks up your ring, but it can be stolen if they pick up your bank card.”

Furthermore, the ring doesn’t need to be charged because it is passive and runs without a battery. In addition to being waterproof, it has the Zobe mobile app built in, which lets users connect their card, monitor spending, control all of its features, and turn it off when needed.

In terms of collaborations, authorizations and instead of issuing cards or holding consumer funds, Zobe Technologies works directly with banks to integrate the NFC rings into pre-existing payment platforms.

Leading banks in countries like South Africa, Nigeria, France, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom have partnered with Zobe. These collaborations turn the rings into an additional destination for a user’s current card.

According to Jega, any customer of a bank can attach their card to a Zobe Ring and tap to pay, exactly like they would with a contactless card, once the bank has finished the embedding procedure.

“We have no control or degree of intrusion over that; even if you link with us, it’s still a card transaction on the back end,” Jega states.

The official debut of the Zobe Ring would be a ground-breaking contactless payment solution developed by UAE-based fintech pioneer Zobe Technologies and this is expected to significantly alter Nigeria’s digital payment market. With the help of this cutting-edge wearable, customers can conduct safe transactions at any Point of Sale (POS) terminal that supports NFC, doing away with the need for cash, physical cards, or even a smartphone at the register. With its unmatched efficiency and convenience for customers nationwide, the Zobe Ring represents the future of frictionless payments.

With the arrival of Zobe Ring in the Nigerian market, which is not a mere coincidence rather, it takes advantage of a number of significant variables that have come together to facilitate the widespread use of contactless payments. The required infrastructure support and regulatory frameworks were still in their infancy until recently. To address this, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) released its extensive Contactless Payments Guidelines in 2022, creating a transparent and encouraging atmosphere for these kinds of advancements. Nigeria has seen a notable increase in the number of point-of-sale (POS) machines that support contactless technology at the same time, which has created the perfect environment for products like the Zobe Ring to flourish. Beyond ease of use, security is a key component of the Zobe Ring’s design.

Modern tokenization technology, used by Zobe Technologies, protects sensitive card data by substituting it with a distinct, encrypted identifier for every transaction. Real card information is never revealed thanks to this cutting-edge security feature. Additionally, the Zobe Ring easily connects with a specific smartphone app, giving customers real-time control over their spending patterns. Users can quickly disable the ring from their app in the unfortunate event of loss or theft, providing peace of mind and making it an incredibly safe substitute for conventional payment methods.