Contactless Payment

[Robbiedog]

Hi, I bought the Versa because the sales blurb said I could link it to my credit/bank card to make contactless payment. Its only when you get it home and look at the small print it becomes clear that this feature only works with selected banks. I'm located in the UK and the number of banks the Versa will link to is a joke! I'm with one of the biggest banks in the UK and its not available. I feel a bit cheated because this was an important feature when selecting this product. When will the list of banks the Versa will connect to in the UK cover the major banks?

[SunsetRunner]

When I first looked into the Ionic I checked the information about what banks were supported, this was 14 months ago. None of the banks in my country were supported and 14 months on only 1 supports Fitbit and I don't have an account with them.

It pays to check before you buy as they do have a link outlining what banks support Fitbit and in what countries. That said some people have written to their banks and they have succeeded in getting them on board, so write or phone you bank and ask them if they can/will support it is surprising that some of the banks don't know anything about it and will do what they can to put it in to use. Others of course are bought and paid for by the other pay system (not naming names, but are good in a pie sometimes).

It's especially annoying here as ANZ in Australia support the Fitbit pay but ANZ in NZ do not, but then there are more customers in Australia than here in NZ I guess.

The best way to get the bank to support the system is to write and ask them and get as many people you know to do the same, the more people that ask the more likely they will enable it.

[Rich_Laue]

@Robbiedog then please contact your bank and told them?

Each bank needs to be individually setup and added and it is a Shane that not every bank in the world hasn't jumped on board.

[Tomtomato]

I had the same issue too when I bought my Versa in June. The number of supported banks in the UK is ridiculous.

I don't think the number of banks in the UK supporting Fitbit pay will increase a lot now. It would have done so already given the popularity of the Versa watch, released more than 6 months ago. Only Santander has been added over the last 6 months.

What I did is that I created an account with Starling bank (one of the supported banks), which was very easy and painless, and then use that account to make payments with Fitbit pay. Current account was created in about 10 minutes (done through the Starling app), and Mastercard debit card was received in 3 days. It's all free, so if you want to use Fitbit Pay, it's probably the easiest option.

Starling bank and the app are also very good, and much more advanced than traditional UK banks like HSBC or Barclays. For instance, the app can notify you of any payments made in real time, can show spending by categories etc.

[Robbiedog]

Hi, you are right, I should have checked but i didn’t realise at the time that links to the banks are elected and not blanket coverage. Thank you for the suggestion to write to my bank. It may do the trick.

[Tomtomato]

Pretty sure writing to your bank will make zero difference. I am sure Fitbit has already approached all the large UK banks, and those have decided not to be part of the Fitbit Pay scheme, for whatever reasons (probably pressure from Apple Pay or Google Pay, or fees). It's not like the UK banks are not aware of Fitbit Pay...

If you want to use Fitbit Pay any time soon, then follow my advice on the previous posts. Otherwise, I suggest you buy an Apple Watch or a Google Android Watch with Google Pay (if such thing exists).