Fitbit Pay stopped working after latest update

[Robyn-TWR]

Since the recent firmware update to the Ionic, Fitbit Pay has stopped working. I have deleted and reinstalled the card multiple times. I have also shutdown my Ionic and restarted it. Nothing works. At the payment point, my Ionic vibrates but the payment terminal asks me to insert it swipe my card. Obviously,, I can’t swipe or insert my watch - so something is no longer working correctly. Can Fitbit please help

[Robyn-TWR]

@SantiR

At this stage I’m wondering if it is something to do with certain clock faces conflicting with Fitbit Pay.

Yesterday, I briefly got it to work. Here’s what I did:-

1. deleted card from wallet & then deleted the wallet app

2.  Deleted the custom clock face

3.  Deleted the Ionic from my list of devices in the app

4.  Logged out of the app & deleted the app from the iPhone

5.  Unpaired the Ionic from my iPhone’s Bluetooth & turned Bluetooth off altogether 

6. Shutdown and restarted iphone. Made sure that Bluetooth turned back on

7.  Factory reset the Ionic 

8.  Downloaded Fitbit app to iPhone and logged in

9.  Set up Ionic as a new device

10.  Load card to wallet.

Everything else was left standard. I used the default clock face. Fitbit Pay worked for the entire day (several times).

I used FItbit Pay once this morning and it worked. Then I loaded the same custom clock face I used previously and Fitbit Pay failed. Even when I repeated the above steps and went back to the default clock face (except I did a shutdown instead of a factory reset this time) Fitbit Pay wouldn’t work. I did this about 10 times, attempting a purchase after each reset. 

So, is it a clock face conflict issue, or was it just a coincidence that it worked (for a limited time, but not any more) with the default clock face?  

Anyway, I didn’t have time today to do another full factory shutdown, but I’ll try that tomorrow.  Hopefully I’ll find a different custom clock face that works with Fitbit Pay, as I’m not a fan of the default clock face. 

[gschoen]

Interesting ... That was quite a troubleshooting process I appreciate you sharing the results.  I'll try the same to see if I can get Pay to work as well, though I like my clock face more than the Pay function.  It's frustrating - I don't use it because it's not reliable, to be useful it has to be completely reliable else I always have to have a backup payment method - which defeats the purpose. 

[Robyn-TWR]

@gschoen Yes, it is a process and right now, not even the default clock face works. Fitbit Pay is important to me, and unless it’s 100% reliable, it’s useless. I’m going to have to try that whole process again to see if I can get it to work. 

[Colinm39]

@Robyn-TWRI'm not sure which is the default clock face but on all of my Wrist type Fitbits I have used the Ace clock face.

Even yesterday I had a Workout running and paid a couple of retailers with Fitbit Pay.. I use Workout when I do the malls to see the effort and distance while briskly walking between retailers.

[AntW]

Hi,

Thanks for sharing this @Robyn-TWR. I have encountered this exact same issue on my versa since updating to os 3. In another thread called: "Fitbit Pay on Versa not working - Solution" a workaround was suggested of closing the fitbit app fully (swipe up) and restarting the watch. Clearly not a long term solution but this has worked for me once. I haven't had much time tomorrow test it out thoroughly.

So it appears there could be some communication issue between the app and watch causing the failure. By closing the app and not allowing the communication to occur it seems to work. Could be related to the selected clock face trying to pull info from the app. I've no idea but I've changed my clock face and will test again when possible. Hopefully fitbit will figure it out and release an update, but I figure the more info they have here the better.

My situation is a versa running firmware 32.33.1.30, iphone X, ios 12, in Australia and linking a commonwealth bank master card. As per the original post, the fitbit pay was working flawlessly for a couple of months and broke after the firmware update.

Fingers crossed a solution is coming.

[Colinm39]

I have just added our CBA MasterCard and made it the default.  That leaves my successful ANZ Visa as the secondary card in the Fitbit Pay Wallet..

Today I had no issues with ANZ on pay terminals I hadn't used before.

So I will test tomorrow...and report back to this Topic..

As an after thought, I'm wondering if the Ionic mac address gives Fitbit moderators a clue to the factory build level of hardware.

[MrRoy]

Count me in the group with Fitbit Pay not working after the update.  I've tried most of the solutions today, but it did not work for me.  Readded the card, deleted Wallet and reinstalled, restarted my Ionic and my iPhone.  Oh well.  I hope there is a solution soon. 

[Colinm39]

So far my second credit card is working perfectly on the same terminals that I use for my shopping transactions with the ANZ card..

So CBA and ANZ are working in Australia for me..

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@Colinm39 wrote:

I have just added our CBA MasterCard and made it the default.  That leaves my successful ANZ Visa as the secondary card in the Fitbit Pay Wallet..

Today I had no issues with ANZ on pay terminals I hadn't used before.

So I will test tomorrow...and report back to this Topic..

As an after thought, I'm wondering if the Ionic mac address gives Fitbit moderators a clue to the factory build level of hardware.

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[Azza_h]

I’ve been able to get mine to work with custom watch faces only if I go into the settings of the watch face via the Fitbit app on my phone and turning off internet and location in the watch faces settings. It has on occasions stopped working after 24hrs even after it automatically prompts me to unlock the watch again but taking the watch off my wrist and back on and entering my unlock code makes it work again

[AntW]

Thanks for trying your CBA card @Colinm39. It's appreciated. I'm glad it worked for you 🙂

I did a factory reset (at the request of fitbit support) and re-added my card, using the default "Layers" clockface on my Versa. The first transaction was successful! Tried againthis morning and unfortunately, no go. 😞

Fitbit support said they are aware of the issue and are working towards a fix. At this point I think we just need to find a consistent workaround until the next patch is released.

The best way I've found so far is to fully close the app on the phone and restart fitbit device. This seems to have worked in most cases.

[Colinm39]

@AntW  It's always going to be a why !!!! ...... I'm having no issues and use the Ace clock face and cannot offer any solutions.  Your post is the first for Fitbit so say "They are aware of an issue"....  Well done ..

[Robyn-TWR]

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@Colinm39 wrote:

@Robyn-TWRI'm not sure which is the default clock face but on all of my Wrist type Fitbits I have used the Ace clock face.

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@Colinm39 The default one is Guages. It’s the one the Ionic will default to if you ever do a Factory Reset. I’m not a big fan of that face. I’m using Quick Stats, set up as per @Azza_h post. I also made sure that the weather option was turned off. 

This fix has improved Pay’s success rate, which went from 0% success to 90-95% success. The failures still bother me, because I’d like to be able to rely on  this feature and I can’t. 

[gschoen]

So frustrating.  I want the feature to have the feature available for when I need it, but factory resets are a LOT of work (why can't it remember how we had our Ionic set up? At least a list of the apps we use!

[SantiR · Accepted solution]

Hello everyone! Thanks for your continuous participation on this thread regarding Fitbit Pay not working after the latest update.

Please try the following troubleshooting steps:

• Remove card from Wallet app 
• Uninstall Wallet app 
• Delete Fitbit app from your phone
• Shutdown Ionic 
• Reinstall Fitbit app 
• Reinstall Wallet app 
• Re add your card 
• Restart Ionic 
• Factory reset Ionic

This steps should help you out with this. Please try them in the order given for best results.

Keep me posted! 

[Ynot]

It should work with a restart.

[Colinm39]

@SantiRThis post is on behalf of the Australian Fitbitters having trouble using Fitbit Pay on our banks.

To repeat what I have posted earlier I have always used ANZ on Fitbit Pay since the release of the Ionic and that has continued through my 3rd Ionic and all firmware and OS upgrades. (the failed Ionics were GPS and battery issues nothing to do with all of the other functionality like syncing and notifications)

Two days ago I added the CBA Mastercard and have been using that successfully as my default, also switching between the two cards.  The only issues I have is retailers with older equipment and one of my retailers has three outlets and my Ionic always fails on the 2nd outlet, OK on the others..

I use the Telstra 4G Mobile Network, never had to do a factory reset on this Ionic and occasionally turn the Ionic off, but very rarely.

There must be someway that Fitbit can analyze my situation to help the others. I have a dormant WestPac Mastercard and tempted to install that in wallet to test that.

I can't help the others, I can only give my setup on the Ionic which is fairly simple because I have removed, Coach and Deezer, use the Ace watch face and the Weather App and mainly Workouts and very minimal GPS. I already have my planned walks recorded and just compare steps and time etc and wish to conserve battery. Average battery usage is 6 days and consistent and always charged via the PC USB port

[Robyn-TWR]

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@Ynot wrote:
It should work with a restart.

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But that’s not terribly convenient when you’re holding up a busy queue at the supermarket checkout. I often find that once there’s a fail, I also need to ask the operator to cancel the sale and restart the transaction, because the EFT terminal will already be mid transaction and asking me to insert or swipe the card. It can’t seem to go backwards from that point. A device restart is a workaround, but not a fix. JMHO

[RJFord]

Hello, I followed the moderators instructions without success.  ☹️

Before the Xmas upgrade my Fitbit pay NAB visa had never failed and I had confidence in leaving my wallet and card at home.

Post upgrade Fitbit pay only works about 50% of the time so no trust and confidence and now have to always have my card which defeats the whole purpose.

Can  someone from Fitbit please acknowledge this upgrade introduced defect and provide guidance on when a fix can be expected? Contactless payments are a standard and require compliance so are expected to work.

cheers from disappointed long term customer

rich

[Colinm39]

I can only add my cents worth again.  The last 3 days since my earlier post I have rotated used my ANZ and CBA credit cards at facilities I haven't used for over 12 months or new facilities.

The new facilities were Cafe's/Restaurants which open up as quick as a flash in my area of Melbourne. Also a garage and optometrist. The new facilities were complete refurbishments including the new Fibre Optic Telecom communications connections.

Taking all those into account, not one failure. Some of these were as low as $6 taps and others over $100 and needed a pin. Only twice it came up to unlock because I hadn't used the Ionic for awhile.

To keep the humor into it, a dear lady at the Optometrist, older than me, asked me if I used a Dick Tracy watch... shows my age...

As I have said before... If I have no failures, why can't Fitbit analyze my situation and help others because I cannot help and feel helpless, maybe guilty because I'm trouble free..

[Robyn-TWR]

Thanks Wish I was trouble free @Colinm39. I’m better than I was, but not 100% trouble free.  I have no confidence to leave my card at home and it does defeat the purpose. It’s a feature I want to work 100% of the time and without multiple restarts and/or factory resets.   I can only compare it to another well known contactless  payment system, which has never failed (for me) and Fitbit Pay which fails approx 2 out of every 10 payments.