Garmin Incorporates Mobile Payment System into its Wearables

Garmin, together with Fit Pay, are announcing that the Garmin Pay mobile payment system has now been integrated into Garmin’s vivoactive 3 smartwatch device. On top of this, the contactless mode of payment is now made available to card holders of issuing banks that support Garmin Pay.

As used on Garmin’s newest smartwatch offering, the Garmin Pay mobile operating system will allow users to complete reliably safe payments any point of sale (POS) retail outlet that has support for near field communications technology (NFC) technology. The Garmin vivoactive 3 smartwatch is already one of the more feature heavy wearable devices out there, and having a payment system is truly a big plus.

As explained by Dan Bartel, the vice president of global sales at Garmin, owners of vivoactive 3 smartwatch devices now get to pay for purchases at supported retail locations even without having to bring their smartphone or wallet. Bartel then proceeded to express his appreciation to card issuing bank partners for extending their support so that Garmin Pay can be made available to the banks’ card holders.

For those not familiar with the vivoactive 3, Garmin had officially unveiled the smartwatch device more than a couple of months ago during this year’s Internationale FunkAusstellung (IFA) Consumer Electronic Unlimited Show that was held in the city of Berlin in Germany. As for Garmin Pay, the contactless mode of payment is powered by Fit Pay’s payment service by way of the Garmin Connect mobile app. The mobile payment system can be used by any Mastercard holder from various issuing banks and credit unions in the United States, including Boeing Employees' Credit Union (BECU), Capital One, First Tech Federal Credit Union, and US Bank. Outside America, banks that offer support include Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Cornercard, Sberbank of Russia, and Swiss Bankers Prepaid Services. For the full list of supported banking institutions, it may be a good idea to head to Garmin’s official website for more information.

As explained by Michael Orlando, the president of Fit Pay, the key to making the Garmin Pay mobile payment system is establishing a working ecosystem wherein the service can truly thrive. Mastercard and other partnering issuing banks should give Garmin Pay the needed room to continue to grow, and as more Garmin users start utilizing the contactless mode of payment, they will be more appreciative of the ease and convenience that the Garmin user experience is trying to achieve ultimately.