← payments · all work

payments × NFC on a wearable

Taking tap-to-pay on a ring live in 7 countries

8K+rings getting tap-to-pay back · no hardware replaced
TargetLive by Oct 2026AchievedIn progress
Where
Smart-ring wearable · Muse Wearables
Role
Product Manager
Context
Tap-to-pay · 7 countries
  1. 01Metric & target

    Tap-to-pay on the Muse ring across 7 countries, including rings already sold. Target: live by Oct 2026.

  2. 02Strategy

    One gated plan for every certification (EMVCo, Mastercard, RuPay, PCI), and no third party in the payment path.

  3. 03Problem

    Certification had stalled for 5+ months. Then a third party's expired Mastercard waiver cut payments on rings already sold.

  4. 04Root cause

    Payments depended on a third-party TSM, the service that loads cards onto the ring's secure chip. When its waiver lapsed, every ring lost payments.

  5. 05Fix & execution

    Restarted certification, took the Mastercard relationship direct, and built our own TSM so rings are re-provisioned under Muse's credentials. Also drove US entry through Usio and scoped the Muse Wallet.

  6. 06Result

    Payments coming back on 8K+ rings across 7 countries in Oct 2026, with no hardware replaced.

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