Zara has teamed up with MultiPay Global Solutions as the payment provider for the new Zara NFC gift keychain, aiming to be more sustainable and reduce waste from more traditional single-use gift cards.

Unveiled at Zara’s iconic flagship store in London’s Battersea Power Station, the simple-to-use Zara NFC gift keychain allows customers to pay for items by scanning the keychain’s unique identifier at any Zara instore NFC-enabled contactless payment reader. Replacing single-use gift cards, the keychains can be reloaded with credit for use time and time again. Zara NFC gift keychains are topped up in-store, and as part of the process can be topped up by others such as family members at the same time.

Gift cards provide a vital connection between retailer and customer, and like any payment method, is always in need of innovation. The scale of the gift card market should not be underestimated. Last year alone 28.8 million adults in the UK received a gift card. Importantly, they are especially popular with Gen Z and millennial shoppers, with 46% and 42%, respectively purchasing at least one gift card in the three years leading up to 2022. The arrival of a reusable NFC-powered key chain not only enhances the customer experience by making it easier to carry but also helps reduce single-use plastic consumption. – David Maisey, CEO, MultiPay Global Solutions

In total, 18,000 keychains, featuring a series of fun, creative designs, have been delivered to Zara stores in the UK. Powering the NFC keychains is MultiPay’s PCI P2PE & PCI DSS L1 validated solution that creates a single payment gateway to provide the same level of security and reliability it delivers for all payment methods.

NFC contactless payments Zara NFC gift keychain

This is an interesting move – NFC contactless payments have pretty much become the norm for shoppers, but so many use their mobile wallets to manage their bank and gift cards, you have to ask the question as to why you would need a Zara NFC gift keychain. The attraction is obvious, you can choose from six different cute designs and it’s possible to gift without forcing someone to use a wallet on their mobile – perhaps especially useful for children or those without a bank account.

The real test won’t be whether Zara can shift 18,000 NFC devices, it will be how many are topped up a second, third and fourth time to justify their manufacturing, so if you’re a fan of Zara fashion make sure your family and friends know that you have an NFC gift keychain and leave it laying around in the run-up to birthdays, Christmas and other special events so that they can sneak it away and top it up for your next gift.

Card recycling system Zara NFC gift keychain

Last week, Mastercard and HSBC began piloting a card recycling system that the payments network hopes will become a blueprint for the global card industry, while Linxens VP Thomas Decker recently reported for NFCW’s Contactless World Congress on sustainable alternatives to today’s predominantly first-use PVC cards, including recycled PVC (rPVC), recycled PETG (rPETG), ocean plastic, biodegradable PLA plastic and wood.

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