Garmin Pay Compatible Watches: The Ultimate List

If you are an athlete, especially a runner or triathlete, you know that having a good GPS watch is important. It can track your progress, map your route, and give you vital information like your heart rate and split times.

But what if you could also use that same watch to pay for your post-run coffee or mid-race energy get? That would be pretty amazing, right?

Garmin has the answer with their new line of Garmin Pay compatible watches. These watches allow you to add your credit or debit card to the watch and make contactless payments anywhere that accepts NFC payments.

That means no more fumbling for your wallet or phone when you’re trying to buy something.

In this post, we will share with you the ultimate list of Garmin Pay watches. We have also purposefully mentioned their other capabilities like GPS tracking, Heart Rate Monitoring, and Music integration, so you can make an informed decision.

Which Garmin watches are compatible with Garmin Pay?

There is already a detailed list of all the Garmin Pay compatible watches on the official Garmin website.

However, we find that not as rich in detail as we would like it to be. So, here is the same list with a little more information about each of the watches.

Garmin Pay Watches List:

Product	Garmin Pay	Music	GPS	LTE	ANT
vivoactive 4	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
vivoactive 4S	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
vivoactive 3	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
vivoactive 3 Music	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Venu	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Venu 2	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Venu 2S	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Venu 2 Plus	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Venu Sq	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
Venu Sq Music	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Forerunner 945 LTE	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Forerunner 945	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Forerunner 935	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Forerunner 745	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Forerunner 735XT	No	No	Yes	No	No
Forerunner 245	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Forerunner 245 Music	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Forerunner 235	No	No	Yes	No	No
Forerunner 230	No	No	Yes	No	No
Forerunner 55	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
Forerunner 45	No	No	Yes	No	No
Forerunner 45S	No	No	Yes	No	No
Forerunner 35	No	No	Yes	No	No
Forerunner 25	No	No	Yes	No	No
Instinct 2 – Standard Edition	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Instinct 2 – Camo Edition	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Instinct 2 – Surf Edition	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Instinct 2 Solar	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
Instinct 2 Solar – Tactical Edition	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
Instinct 2 Solar – Surf Edition	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
Instinct 2 – dēzl™ Edition	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
Instinct 2S – Standard Edition	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Instinct 2S – Camo Edition	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Instinct 2S – Surf Edition	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Instinct 2S Solar	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
Instinct 2S Solar – Surf Edition	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
Instinct Solar – Standard Edition	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Instinct Solar – Tactical Edition	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Instinct Solar – Camo Edition	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Instinct Solar – Surf Edition	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Instinct – Standard Edition	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Instinct – Tactical Edition	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Instinct – Esports Edition	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
fēnix 7S – Standard Edition	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
fēnix 7S – Solar Edition	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
fēnix 7S – Sapphire Solar Edition	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
fēnix 7 – Standard Edition	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
fēnix 7 – Solar Edition	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
fēnix 7 – Sapphire Solar Edition	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
fēnix 7X – Standard Edition	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
fēnix 7X – Sapphire Solar Edition	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
fēnix 6 – Pro and Sapphire Editions	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
fēnix 6 – Standard Edition	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
fēnix 6S – Pro and Sapphire Editions	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
fēnix 6S – Pro Solar Edition	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
fēnix 6S – Standard Edition	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
fēnix 6X – Pro and Sapphire Editions	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
fēnix 6X – Pro Solar Edition	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
fēnix 5	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
fēnix 5S	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
fēnix 5X	No	No	Yes	No	Yes

Can you Pay with Garmin watch?

You can pay with your Garmin Watch if your model has an NFC chip.

The above list can help you figure out whether your Garmin watch can make contactless payments or not.

Alternatively, you can visit the official website and look for ‘Garmin Pay’ as the listed feature under your watch’s techincal specs.

Which banks support Garmin Pay?

Though Garmin Pay supports not as many banks or cards as Apple pay or Google pay does, the coverage is pretty much passable if you live in North America.

We have compiled a region-wise list of all the banks and cards that support Garmin Pay.

How to Setup and Use Garmin Pay?

Follow the steps below to set up Garmin Pay on your watch:

1. Firstly, you need to make sure that your phone is connected to the internet and nearby your watch. Open the Garmin Connect app and go to device settings.
2. Go to ‘Garmin Devices’ and select your device.
3. Then select ‘Garmin Pay’.
4. Choose the ‘add card’ option.
5. Enter your card details by following on-screen instructions, and set up a passcode.
6. Your bank may send you a verification code; enter it when prompted.
7. Once the card is successfully added to Garmin Wallet, you can start using Garmin Pay.
8. To use it, just hold the watch close to the NFC payment terminal, long-press the action button, and select Wallet.
9. Enter the 4-digit passcode, if prompted, and hold the watch close to the terminal until it vibrates and displays a checkmark.

If you make your first NFC payment with the right passcode, you will not be prompted for the passcode again in the next 24 hours.

In case, you have trouble setting it up or want to know more, here is a video tutorial by Garmin explaining the process in detail:

Remember, you can always reset the passcode or remove the card on the Garmin Connect app on your smartphone.

Is Garmin pay safe?

Garmin Pay is as safe as any other contactless payment system like Apple or Google Pay. The data is encrypted and stored in a secure element on the device.

Additionally, you set up a lock code for the watch itself, so even if someone gets hold of your watch, they cannot access the payment information or use the watch to make payments.

What to do if my Garmin watch is lost or stolen?

The first thing you should do is remove or suspend your card on the watch by going to the Garmin Connect app.

However, no one can abuse your watch to make contactless payments as it requires a 4-digit passcode, which only you know.

Moreover, if the watch is lost or stolen, you can always track it down by using the ‘Find my watch’ feature on the Garmin Connect app.

Is Garmin pay the same as Google pays?

Garmin Pay is the same as Google Pay in terms of the underlying technology. They both rely on NFC (Near Feild Communication) for contactless payments.

However, Garmin Pay is only available on certain Garmin watches while Google Pay can be used on any Android phone or Wear OS smartwatch with NFC capabilities.

Secondly, there is a huge difference in terms of the number of banks and cards that support each platform. Garmin Pay is only available in a handful of countries and with a limited number of banks.

On the other hand, Google Pay is widely accepted and supported by numerous banks around the world.

Can I use Google Pay on Garmin Watch?

No, you cannot use Google Pay on Garmin Watch. As of today, there are no Google apps available for Garmin watches, and we highly doubt there would be any in the future.

So for contactless payments, you are basically stuck with Garmin Pay.

Does Garmin Pay Work Without Phone?

Garmin Pay works without a phone or internet connection. In fact, the whole point of adding an NFC payment feature to a Garmin watch is to make it independent of the phone and get rid of the need to carry a physical wallet.

Does Garmin work with Apple Pay?

Garmin does not work with Apple Pay. Garmin Pay and Apple Pay are two competing contactless payment platforms that may work on the same NFC technology but lack interoperability.

Apple Pay is only available on Apple devices like the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch while Garmin Pay can be used on any NFC-enabled Garmin watch.

Which Garmin Watch has Apple Pay?

No Garmin watch has Apple Pay. Instead of this, you will have to use the proprietary Garmin Pay feature on certain compatible watches to make contactless payments.

Apart from Apple Pay, Garmin Watches don’t support Fitbit Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay.

Final Words:

Garmin Pay is a contactless payment solution that can be used to make payments on the go without the need for a physical wallet or phone.

The service is available on certain Garmin watches and can be used with a variety of cards from different banks. Above, we have shared the complete list of Garmin Pay Waches with you.

It is as safe as any other NFC payment system and comes with an additional 4-digit passcode to prevent unauthorized payments.