Smartwatches are poised to become the next personal computinghub, according to Business Insider.

As credit unions plot their mobile payment strategy, it'schallenging to forecast which innovative device will reach busymembers on the go.

With some predicting the Apple Watch and Google Glass willreplace smartphones and iPads, wearables are starting to come intofashion, according to industry experts.

The global wearables market reached 33 million units this yearand is expected to reach 148 million units, with smartwatchespoised to be the breakout item, according to a new report fromBusiness Insider's research arm, BIIntelligence.

“It has become clear that smartwatches are poised to become thenext personal computing hub,” according to a Nov. 11 article inBusiness Insider. “The road to ubiquity isn't withoutbarriers, but smartwatches have what it will take to win.”

Some cooperatives, such as the $264 million, Lawrenceville,Ga.-based Peach State Federal Credit Union, are keeping a close eyeon wearables.

“The combination of mobile payments and innovative new mobiledevices may soon allow millions of credit union members toliterally wear their CUs,” according to a post on Peach State'sblog. “Advanced mobile payments technology and handy wearabledevices could make a lot of sense.”

Mike Guarino, co-founder of Today's Credit Unions, which createdthe blog article for Peach State, said his team was inspired towrite about wearables after reading a CU Times articleabout the rapid Apple adoption rate among cooperatives.

“With [credit unions] embracing this new form of payments, andwearables getting both more powerful and more popular, it is only amatter of time before wearables become an easy interface for[credit union] members to make super-fast and convenient mobilepayments transactions,” Guarino wrote in an email to CUTimes.

“Credit unions are taking the lead in embracing this new serviceand we see it as a very positive step for the credit unionmovement,” he added.

Kristen Patton, SVP of marketing and business development atPeach State, said the credit union will carefully explore theevolving wearable market in the same way it does with otherinnovative products.

“Peach State definitely recognizes how advancing technologyhelps make our members' lives easier,” Patton said. “As with anynew product offering, we would need to do a full assessment beforerolling out wearable technology, including a review of the costs,security, integration with our existing offerings and any otherfactors that might impact our members.”

Payments processing CUSO The Members Group said it plans torelease See2Pay, a mobile payments app for Google Glass.

The introduction of the Apple Watch legitimized the wearablescategory, according to Brian Day, senior product manager at The Members Group, a DesMoines, Iowa-based payments processing CUSO that plans to release amobile payments app for GoogleGlass.

TMG said its See2Paywill be made available to the developer community through a servicecalled GitHub.

“In the foreseeable future, I don't see wearables replacingphones, I see them as a complement to phones,” Day said. “The wayApple architected the Apple Watch was very much as an extension ofthe phone and I believe that was on purpose.”

“Certainly, the inclusion of Apple Pay on the Apple Watch issomething for credit unions to be mindful of,” he continued. “Withthe launch of Apple Pay, I would recommend credit unions focus onmaking sure they are part of the phone first. Then, as the AppleWatch launches, they should talk with mobile providers to assesstheir readiness to deliver native apps.”

Adoption rates might be slow at first, but wearables willprobably be widely used at some point, Day said.

“Think about tablets a few years ago; there was a point in timewhere FIs were wondering if they should build an app for tablets,”he recalled. “That seems silly to think about now because tabletsare so prevalent. I think wearables will follow a similartrajectory.”

Credit unions that do their homework in advance will be preparedas more members opt for wearables, Brian Scott, TMG vice presidentof sales, said.

“It's difficult to convince any new user group to try somethingfor the first time,” Scott said. “Providers must be intentionalabout encouraging that first experience. Of course, they also needto have that experience nailed down so repeat use isn't an uphillbattle.”

For credit unions exploring the wearables frontier, securitymust be a priority since members are nervous about moving moneythrough applications they don't trust, Scott said.

To deliver true value, an application must also be easier thanswiping a card or scanning a barcode and rewarding enough to promptmembers to abandon traditional methods, he added.

Deciding whether to dive into wearables will require a greatdeal of due diligence, according to a 2013 Filene white papercommissioned by CUNA's Community Credit Union Committee.

“The credit union system has always positioned itself as a fastfollower, and frankly, that's not a bad place to be given theplethora of options, the expense of jumping in, and the fact thateven the big players aren't entirely sure which payment ecosystemto support next,” George Hofheimer, chief research + innovation officer at theFilene Research Institute, wrote in “The Future of Payment Systemsfor Credit Unions.”

“It may not be time to make any big bets in the payments sphere,but that doesn't mean credit unions can afford to be ambivalent,”he wrote. “Innovations abound, and although it's impossible to knowexactly which ones could become true disrupters, it's important tohave a feel for the possibilities.”