For the first time in Romania, Banca Transilvania and Garmin launch Contactless payments through smart watches, available for Garmin smartwatches with the Pay feature embedded, by directly linking Visa BT cards to them. "We are excited to add Garmin Pay to the range of options available to BT customers. As more and more people add exercise to their daily lives, their needs are changing constantly, moving towards simple and convenient options such as freedom to stop at the end of a workout or a walk for coffee or a snack without needing to carry cash, cards or even their phone. This new option complements BT's existing mobile payment solutions and confirms our commitment to expand digital options and to accommodate our customers’ changing needs." – stated Oana Ilaş, Retail Products Manager, Banca Transilvania.
With the new payment option, Banca Transilvania customers have access to all the features and benefits they receive when paying with the physical or digital card from the BT Pay app, namely: STAR loyalty points (for shopping cards), respectively Miles (for travel cards).
"I'm glad we can announce Garmin Pay in Romania very shortly after launching in the Western markets. It is an extremely useful tool for those with an active lifestyle and for athletes who are still in need of mobility. Garmin Pay is available on a series of Garmin smartwatches, and will be developed on new models launching in 2019." – stated Alexandru Moise, Garmin Sales & Marketing Manager Bulgaria, Ungaria, România şi Republica Moldova.
With this launch together with Garmin, Banca Transilvania is taking another step towards digitizing and offering positive experiences to customers, who now have 6 alternatives for contactless payments: with the physical card, with the digital card enrolled in the BT Pay app, with one of the accessories in the BT Pay collection (contactless watch, bracelet, sticker) and from now on with Garmin smartwatches.
“We are pleased to take another step forward, together with Banca Transilvania, in our commitment to make payments as simple and seamless as possible for consumers and to transform connected devices into a secure form of payments. The launch of contactless payments through smart watches is a natural step in our long standing partnership with Banca Transilvania, the first bank in the Southeast Europe region that launched at the beginning of this year mobile payments secured through Visa Token Service. Romanians have become used to contactless payments in recent years due to their indisputable advantages: speed, convenience and simplicity. Wearables take all these advantages and make them even better: they are in constant contact with the user and naturally integrated into his actions, therefore the payment experience is seamless and secure” - stated Cătălin Crețu, Visa General Manager for Romania, Croatia, Malta and Slovenia.
5 steps for enrolling a Visa BT card to Garmin Pay
Customers need a compatible wearable device and Garmin account enrolled on their smartphone. Adding a BT Visa card/cards in the Garmin app in 5 simple steps:
1. Select the device and the Garmin Pay option in the Garmin Devices section
2. Set a security code
3. Add the BT Visa card information or scan it using the phone’s camera
4. Accep the Terms and Conditions of Use
5. Activate the BT Visa card for Garmin Pay by contacting BT’s Contact Center at 0264 308028 / * 8028 (from any national, fixed or mobile network)
Once the card is enrolled and activated, customers can pay contactless with their wearable device.
Banca Transilvania is the card leader in Romania, with 3.2 million cards in the portfolio and 19% market share.
