Fitbit Pay and Santander in the UK on Ionic

[dbrewood]

Today Fitbit Pay was made available for Santander in the UK. I got it all set up and used it this morning. No problems at all it worked well.

However this afternoon I thought..... hmm no payment notifications... I checked the Fitbit web site (https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/2236#list) which states:

"To see your recent transactions in the Fitbit app:

- From the Fitbit app dashboard, tap or click the Account icon (User-added image) > your device image.

- Tap or click the Wallet tile.

- Find the card you added to your watch and then scroll down to see your 3 most recent transactions.

If this feature isn't available for your card, or if you want to see all of your Fitbit Pay transactions, review your bank or credit card statement."

I've checked the wallet tile and nothing so I guess that the last sentence they state applies. Not very impressive at all as with Santander when used with Apple Pay (iPhone X), Google Pay (Note 8 & Gear S3) I always got some sort of notification.

So has anyone received any sort of notification for any card used? If so, how, where etc?

[SantiR]

@dbrewood I hope you're doing well! Thanks for using Fitbit Pay for your purchase needs. Also, thanks for your question regarding the notifications from Fitbit Pay.

The availability of the transaction list on the Wallet tile will depend from bank to bank. Some banks won't allow it to be visible on the Wallet tile. Did you used to see the last 3 transaction from your Santander bank card?

Regarding notifications, you should receive a notification when a purchase is done if you have that feature available with your bank. Most banks will offer this service. Feel free to enroll with your bank if you haven't done so already.

Keen to hear experiences from other users regarding this?

Keep me posted! 

[dbrewood]

Thanks for the reply, I will be querying with Santander as so far no notifications have been showing in the Fitbit wallet of in the Santander app.

[SantiR]

@dbrewood Thanks for your reply! That sounds good. Please let me know what kind of solution does your back gives you. Also, by any chance, have you tried any other supported banks card (if any)?

In the meanwhile, take a look at the Discussions Board as you will find a lot of interesting things there. Feel free to post on any thread you want. If you are looking for Fitbit friends to compete with on challenges, check this thread to add some!

Keep me posted! 

[dbrewood]

I've not managed to make contact with Santander alas.

In the UK very few banks support Fitbit Pay otherwise I would have added my main bank into the syustem!

[dbrewood]

Well after a bit of investigation it seems that the limitation is in the Fitbit app on iOS. If one compares the applications on Android and iOS one has a placeholder for transactions the other (iOS) doesn't.

1 - Is the iOS app, 2 - is the Android app.

[SantiR]

@dbrewood Thanks for your reply and for sharing those pictures and valuable information.

Great findings! Probably the Android app will show the last transactions. Thanks for sharing this, it is very important information. I wonder if it will show like that for every card while using an iOS device?

Perhaps you could turn this to be a Feature Suggestion by posting a request asking for this on that board. That way we could see other user's experiences. 

Thanks again for sharing this. Keep me posted! 

[dbrewood]

Not a problem and as requested I've created a Feature Suggestion.

[SantiR]

@dbrewood Thanks for your reply and for creating the suggestion. It is great to have that idea in that board. We will see how many users will vote and comment hopefully sharing similar experiences. That will help with important findings regarding Fitbit Pay for different platforms.

Also, if you have any more ideas for future improvements, please post them! 

Thanks again and see you around! 

[dbrewood]

I'm amazed it's not in there as standard to be honest. It's not good having the ability to pay and not getting an electronic receipt either in the wallet or as a notification.

[SantiR]

@dbrewood Thanks for your reply! Yes, I agree, I wasn't aware that the iOS app was showing like that.

Still curious to know if iOS will show like that for every bank and cards, or if it is just with Santander. Hopefully, other users will share with us.

Keep me posted! 

[dbrewood]

Indeed I'm hoping other users will chip in. What we really need is more UK banks coming on board!

[Brantome]

Hi, any more news on this? I finally got Fitbit Pay on my Versa, and despite it losing the card details on the watch yesterday which meant I had to delete and re-install my phone app (duh?), I managed to make a couple of contactless payments today with it, but like you, without getting any notification nor details in my Fitbit app. I’m on Android btw, and do have an area for transactions in the app, but it claims them haven’t been any recent ones?? I’ll try and contact Santander on their twitter support account...

[Brantome]

Spoke to Santander who say, like all uk banks to be fair, that contactless payments take longer to be verified and passed thru to your online account. Which I guess is fair enough and what I’ve experienced with other contactless payment methods.

However that doesn’t explain  in my mind why the Fitbit app has an area for recent transactions but doesn’t show any - doesn’t the watch know what it’s just approved payment of? Or are Fitbit passing the buck back to the bank and suggesting that they will only show recent transactions in the Fitbit wallet in the  app if the bank immediately authorised the transaction and passed that info back in real time to the Fitbit app? I feel Fitbit should explain how and when that ‘recent transaction’ area is populated

[Happyhomelands]

My experience with Google Pay is that a transaction notification arrives almost immediately after purchase 

[stusquires]

I set up a Starling Bank account as Santander wasn't up and running when I got my ionic. Most of the time transactions hit both fitbit and the Starling account apps on my phone BEFORE the data gets back to the contactless payment device! It is wonderful. I was about to retire my Starling account and just use Santander, but if this is still an issue I don't thnk I will.

[Tatty42]

I've recently switched to a Santander current account and would like to set my card up in Fitbit Pay, but every time I try, it fails with "There was an error adding this card to Fitbit Pay. Please try again once. If the problem persists, contact customer support."

Has anyone else had this? Is it Fitbit support I need, or Santander?