Yes, Garmin Pay does work in Canada. The limitation may be on account of the list of participating banks in Canada. Unless your Bank is integrated to work with Garmin Pay, the app will not work in Canada. We look at some key aspects of Garmin Pay app’s working. We also look at how you can enable it on your Garmin smartphone.
Participating Banks for Garmin Pay in Canada
Garmin Pay has been a hit or miss in Canada. The list of participating Banks and cards that can work with Garmin Pay is brief. The following Banks can work with Garmin Pay:
- ATB Financial: MASTERCARD
- ATB: MASTERCARD
- Brim Financial: MASTERCARD
- Manulife Bank of Canada: VISA
- U.S. Bank Canada: VISA
Out of these 5 financial institutions, it will be rare to have a US Bank card in Canada. And, the ATB Financial and ATB are focused more on the Alberta region. Manulife Bank has a very narrow presence all through Canada. Which leaves us with the option of getting a Mastercard from Brim to integrate with Garmin Pay in Canada.
Understandably, the reason for poor Garmin Pay coverage in Canada has been a lesser number of Banks that can work with Garmin Pay in Canada. For emergency use, most people end up getting a Brim Mastercard. That gives you a semblance of coverage on the Garmin watches through Garmin Pay.
For the most updated list of Banks that can work with your Garmin device in Canada, you can always check the Garmin Connect app. Garmin Pay can be integrated on your smartwatch through the Garmin Connect app. We have listed a brief set of instructions in the section about ‘Enabling Garmin Pay’ on the Garmin smartwatch.
UK Banks that work with Garmin Pay
In UK, the following Visa cards can be linked to Garmin Pay:
- Cornèrcard: VISA
- FinecoBank: VISA
- Genome: VISA
- Revolut: VISA
- Santander: VISA
- TransferWise: VISA
On a similar note, the following Master Cards can work with Garmin Pay in UK:
- Curve: MASTERCARD
- Danske Bank: MASTERCARD
- Prepaid Financial Services: MASTERCARD
- Revolut: MASTERCARD
- Santander: MASTERCARD
- Starling Bank: MASTERCARD
- TransferWise: MASTERCARD
- Wirecard Card Solutions Limited: MASTERCARD
Essentially , there are a limited number of Banks that can work with Garmin Pay in UK.
Most people end up choosing Curve, Revolut or Starling. Curve connects to your UK Bank and uses it as an underlying source of funding the Garmin Pay wallet. For Banks that do not support Garmin Pay natively, Curve is one of the best and most sought after option in UK.
Revolut is more like a gateway account. You need to open a separate Revolut account and fund it. Revolut does not have access to your Bank account. I like it for the fact that you can keep lunch money in it and use the Revolut card to fund your Garmin Pay transactions.
If you are running into issues in getting Garmin Pay to work with Revolut Visa card in UK, try to speak with Revolut support. They may issue you a Revolut Mastercard instead. It looks like Revolut Mastercard is the standard card being issued by Revolut for Garmin Pay integration.
Starling Bank can also be used for linking with your Garmin Pay account. The Starling Bank app offers a good user experience for transacting on Garmin Pay.
- If you wish to connect Bank account to Garmin Pay and the Bank is not natively supported by Garmin Pay, you can use Curve.
- If you do not wish to connect your Bank account to Garmin Pay, you can consider using a Revolut card and fund it for miscellaneous expenses. Most people are happy funding Revolut to the extent of £50-100 for Garmin Pay to work for contactless payments.
How do I turn on my Garmin Pay?
Garmin Connect app is the basis of activating Garmin Pay on your smartwatch. Garmin Connect is available through Google App Store for Android devices. Garmin Connect is available through the Apple app store for iPhones. You need to make sure that you have installed Garmin Connect on the smartphone that is paired with the Garmin smartwatch.
Here is how you can activate Garmin Pay on Garmin watches:
- Launch the Garmin Connect app on the paired smartphone
- Select Menu
- Select the 3 dots (…)menu
- Select Garmin Pay
- Choose Getting Started
This will bring up the setup process of Garmin Pay on the smartphone. You will need to follow the on screen instructions to setup Garmin Pay on the phone. It, eventually, gets pushed out to the Garmin device after a sync with the Garmin Connect app.
You will also need to setup the wallet account on Garmin Connect to work with Garmin Pay. This is completed as part of the Garmin Pay setup process.
Summary
Garmin Pay has the best coverage in the United States. We have listed the Banks and cards that can work in Canada and UK. If your Bank is compatible with Garmin Pay, you can setup Garmin Pay through the Garmin Connect app. The setup process will also help in making the wallet account for Garmin Pay integration.
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Helen Kurt is a geeky nerd who loves to cover the wearables space. She has over 5 years of experience in the smartwatch domain. You can reach her on email at [email protected].