First Internet Bank Enables Smartwatch Support

First Internet Bank customers can now access their accounts via smartwatch. The online bank has announced that its mobile app now includes support for the Apple Watch and Android Wear devices.

Customers will be able to access account information via a smartwatch when it is paired with a smartphone on which their login credentials are stored. In a statement announcing the smartwatch support, First Internet Bank CEO David Becker framed it as a feature complementing support for Touch ID and Eyeprint ID, suggesting that together with these biometric authentication options on the smartphone, smartwatch support “makes it even easier for our customers to access their accounts.”

In embracing smartwatch support, First Internet Bank is somewhat ahead of the curve. With smartwatches not yet enjoying wide popularity in the mass market, only a small number of financial institutions have offered support for such devices, with Ally Bank being a recent example. But given the centrality of technological innovation to First Internet Bank’s brand, smartwatch support would seem a natural step forward, and should help to further burnish the bank’s reputation among early adopters.