Swatch Access uses radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology for ski-lift passes. A small chip and antenna inside the watch communicate wirelessly with a compatible reader, allowing the wearer to pass a gate without inserting or visibly scanning a paper ticket.
The best-known version was Swatch Snowpass, a ski-oriented Access watch. Resorts could encode lift-ticket permissions onto the watch, making it both a timepiece and a contactless access token. The system was also designed for other applications, including tickets, keys, payments, and network access.
RFID is easy to confuse with NFC because both operate without physical contact. NFC is a short-range technology commonly associated with modern phone payments, while Swatch Snowpass versions used RFID systems at 125 kHz or 13.56 MHz. GPS would locate the wearer, Bluetooth would create a device connection, but neither is the technology that authenticates the lift pass at the gate.