Garmin’s New Smartwatch Lets You Make Contactless Payments
You’re going out for a run to train for that upcoming marathon, and you don’t want to carry anything that will slow you down, including your wallet. But you do want that post-run breakfast burrito and coffee.
Garmin has a solution for you — the vívoactive 3, the first of its sport smartwatches to offer contactless payments, according to a company announcement. The company known for its GPS-based devices is introducing the new payment technology — potentially a competitor of Apple Pay and the Apple Watch—with this most recent model of the vívoactive sports watch, released in conjunction with the IFA consumer electronics conference in Berlin.
“Anyone who is out and about being active can relate to the struggle of where to stash a credit card or cash, and has had to forgo a post-workout snack or coffee as a result,” Garmin vice president of worldwide sales Dan Bartel said in a statement. “We’re solving that dilemma with Garmin Pay, an exciting feature on the new vívoactive 3. Use it pretty much wherever contactless payments are accepted, and give yourself one less thing to remember when you’re leaving the house.”
GarminPay is supported by FitPay technology and currently works with Visa and Mastercard issued by the major banks. Users set up their cards in the Garmin Connect app on their phone, and the information is stored for use on the watch under PIN code protection.
Within the vívoactive 3, users will enter the PIN code the first time after setting up their mobile wallet, anytime they put the watch on after taking it off, or at least once every 24 hours. In that sense, it works similarly to Apple Pay on the Apple Watch, which requires that users add their cards again within the watch and enter a passcode anytime they put the watch on. Also much like Apple Pay, a series of incorrect passcode attempts on the vívoactive 3 will lock GarminPay and force users to reset the passcode through the phone app.
Aside from the new GarminPay function, the watch also comes with 15 built-in apps for indoor and outdoor fitness, as well as Elevate, a wrist-based pulse tracker that provides a number of useful fitness data points. Vívoactive 3 owners can also download for free a number of watch faces, apps, and widgets from the Garmen Connect IQ store, the announcement revealed. The watch uses side-swipe technology to reveal its different faces and functions, along with an “action button” that brings users to a central control screen from which they can access GarminPay.
The vívoactive 3 also connects with Garmin’s online community and other smartphone capabilities, such as text messaging, music control, and social media. However, these functions currently work only with Android phones.
The watch can last up to 7 days as a smartwatch and up to 13 hours with the GPS on, and is waterproof for swimming, showering and similar water activities. It retails for $299.99 in black or white stainless steel, or $329.99 in black slate.
