Remember the days when every charitable cause had a color-coded silicone wristband to go with it?

“When you think about wristbands, the first thing that comes to mind is those Livestrong wristbands that help support or promote a cause,” says Alex Kahn, northeast territory manager for supplier LogoIncluded (asi/67837). The end goal, he adds, was about being trendy or making a fashion statement.

Now, however, wristbands have moved beyond an inexpensive way to raise money and show solidarity, with many companies putting a technological twist on these simple promo items – enabling them to pay bar tabs, confirm vaccination status and more. “I think it’s really cool that you can have a wristband with a USB attachment where somebody can load information, such as a map or itinerary, and send a consumer to whatever event it could be,” Kahn says. “It could even work with the office when it comes to meetings or returning with COVID guidelines.”

This wristband (RFID03) from LogoIncluded (asi/67837) is made of a water-resistant silicone and uses radio frequency identification chips to track items at a distance.

LogoIncluded offers several wristbands that could double as a USB drive, including the Alliance band (UD27B). The supplier also has bands with embedded radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology. These bands work off low-, high- and ultra-frequency and can help facilitate access control, touchless check-ins or even ticket entry for trade shows and amusement parks.

“People are ready to show their faces again,” says Jayde Burns, marketing manager of LogoIncluded. “Many trade shows and events are making their way back; however, we’re not fully in the clear.” Caution is still important to many, she adds. RFID wristbands can be a boon in situations that still call for touchless entry.

Purewrist is a wearable device that doubles as a prepaid credit card, allowing the wearer to make contactless payments.

Wristbands are also being used for contactless payment, a technology that’s been around for years, but that’s gained added significance in the age of COVID. “We’ve just shrunk [the contactless credit card] and put it in a bracelet,” Suresh Palliparambil, CEO of Purewrist, told U.S. News and World Report. During the pandemic, Palliparambil’s company launched the Purewrist GO, a color-customizable mass market wristband that acts as a prepaid credit card. It retails for $25 and can be preloaded with $10, $25 or $50, which is immediately available for purchases after activation. The bracelets work with the NFC-enabled contactless readers that can be found at retail stores, restaurants, mass transit and more.

“In addition to its public health benefits, contactless payments offer a sense of ease as more consumers seek to enhance their shopping experience,” Palliparambil said in a press release. “With Purewrist, consumers can safely purchase and travel with just the tap of a wrist, while merchants provide shorter wait times for customers and added safety to their employees.”

Purewrist bracelets are being used to facilitate payments in stadiums and other sporting events, and some parents are buying them for their tweens to help teach financial literacy.

Some establishments have instituted their own contactless payment wearables. For example, Pour Taproom in Atlanta gives customers a reusable wristband when they open a tab, so they can “be their own bartender” and sample a wide selection of beers, ciders, wines and cocktails – paying for them by the ounce.

The pandemic facilitated a boom in contactless payment. A 2020 survey by the National Retail Federation and Forrester found that no-touch payments had increased 69% for retailers, and that 67% now accept some form of contactless payment. The wearable payment device market is growing right alongside. The global wearable payment device market size is projected to grow from $43 billion this year to $82 billion by 2026, according to MarketsandMarkets, a B2B research company.

The social distance wristband set (7432) from Fey Promo (asi/54040) is an easy way for people to signal their social distancing comfort levels at events.

Wristbands have also been used “to identify vaccination completion, for access within a medical facility and to indicate the level of preferred social distancing,” according to Beth Friese of Fey Promo (asi/54040).

For instance, a Colorado doctor created the ImmunaBand, a bracelet that shares a person’s vaccination status via the unique QR code printed on it. Customers upload their vaccination card to an encrypted, HIPAA-compliant server that’s linked to the code on the bracelet.

Many events have been using disposable wristbands color-coded like a traffic light to identify social distancing comfort levels. Red bands indicate the wearer prefers to keep their distance, yellow means an attendee is happy to talk but prefers not to be touched, and green means they’re comfortable with hugs, high fives or handshakes.

As the world moves beyond COVID, wristbands – particularly for crowd control and contactless payment – are here to stay.