Avi Ben-Hutta
Editor at Coverager
Fitbit KBC Group

KBC Introduces Contactless Payments

Fitbit and KBC launched Fitbit Pay in Belgium.

KBC, CBC and KBC Brussels customers who have a Fitbit smartwatch or activity tracker can now use it to pay in shops that accept Maestro and have contactless payment available. The initiative makes KBC the first financial institution in Belgium to offer Fitbit Pay. The launch adds to KBC’s commitment to pioneering new payment methods and follows the bank’s introduction of Google Pay and Garmin Pay.

“The launch of Fitbit Pay in Belgium is an ideal solution for KBC customers who lead an active life. We recently provided the possibility to pay with Garmin Pay and the feedback we’ve received has been very positive. A more general wearables payments trial where customers can pay with their watch, ring, bracelet or key holder, is now running and again the reactions are promising. By including Fitbit Pay in our range of payment solutions, we hope to satisfy even more active customers. It allows a seamless connection between sport and payments, with no need to carry cash or your bank card.” – KBC’s General Manager of Digital Transformation, Karin Van Hoecke.

Contactless slowly but surely becoming an established means of payment

  • KBC made contactless payments possible being the first Belgian Bank offering contactless debit cards. Today 91% of all KBC debit cards are contactless and 10% of the payments are contactless (compared to 3% a year before).
  • Making payments with Google Pay became possible in September 2017. Since then, more than 9.200 customers at KBC, CBC and KBC Brussels actively use this payment method, each carrying out an average of two transactions a month.
  • KBC customers1with an Android device have also been able to make contactless payments with KBC Mobile since last summer, without having to download an extra app. Almost 8.500 customers used it making about 18.000 payments.
  • Garmin Pay was launched in October 2018, since then almost 500 customers1 have enrolled the payment process on their device, doing more than 2300 transactions.
  • In December 2018, KBC started a trial with 1.000 wearable devices (watches, rings, key rings and bracelets). Trial progress and initial findings will be communicated separately in due course.
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