Fitness Watch Counts Your Steps And Now Your Pennies Too

Garmin, one of the top five wearable makers globally, has introduced a way for smartwatch wearers to pay for things just by tapping their wrists against a payment machine.

With the release of its new Vívoactive 3 fitness watch Garmin is rolling out a contactless payment option called Garmin Pay. The watch is equipped with an NFC chip and has an embedded secure element that lets wearers pay by tapping the watch against compatible point-of-sale terminals, just like the other devices work.

A built-in payment option was something Garmin users had been asking for, according to Phil McClendon, the lead product manager for the Vívoactive. “It’s something we thought would benefit particular customers who are really active and out and about, and who want to be able to leave the phone behind,” he said.

Garmin Pay is actually enabled by FitPay, a wholly owned subsidiary of smart wallet company NXT-ID, so it’s running on top of FitPay’s platform rather than being built entirely from the ground up. Garmin says it will support Visa and MasterCard debit and credit cards “from major banks” to start, with more details to come. Unlike Apple Pay or Android Pay, Garmin says it doesn’t plan to overtly market its service with stickers at payment terminals, operating instead under the assumption that consumers will recognize the standard Contactless Symbol logo.

Peace of Mind

Payment card accounts are managed from the Garmin Connect mobile app, which, like other services, gives the you the ability to update or delete an account if your wearable gets stolen or is no longer in use. And each attempted payment is passcode-protected, with one interesting caveat: once you enter your passcode, the watch stays in active payment mode for 24 hours, so you don’t have to reenter it for each new purchase throughout the day. Once you take the watch off, it locks up again.

Garmin declined to say what other devices Garmin Pay might pop up on, but hinted strongly that it will be coming to other products. “We don’t have any other devices we’re announcing at this time,” McClendon said, “but when we come out with a new technology, when appropriate, we introduce it to other products.”