Payments processors Mastercard and Visa have added payment capabilities to Garmin’s newly launched vívoactive 3 smartwatch.
The newly launched smartwatch is Garmin’s first wearable device to feature Garmin Pay, a NFC-based product.
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Users can add their debit and credit cards to their vívoactive 3 smartwatch in the same manner as a normal digital wallet.
Visa executive vice president of innovation and strategic partnerships Jim McCarthy said: “The idea of wearing your wallet on your wrist is not only desired by consumers, but with Visa and Garmin it will be both convenient and secure. Partners like Fit Pay, Inc. are helping us accelerate the growth of IoT by bringing payment-based features to market on devices like Garmin’s – with greater ease and speed-to-market.”
Mastercard senior vice president Kiki Del Valle said: “Technology is enabling fitness companies to provide athletes with the most comprehensive performance trackers we have seen in our time. Adding payment capability to these devices is a natural next step to make training and fitness experiences more relevant, personal, and convenient.”
Recently, Fitbit partnered with Mastercard and Visa to enable contactless payments on its first smartwatch Fitbit Ionic, which will be released in October this year.
