We’re told that eligible cardholders of participating banks will be able to make payments with Fitbit Pay, Fitbit’s new payment function, when available.

So how does it work?

With Fitbit Pay, Visa and Fitbit are meeting demand amongst the majority of wearable owners who, according to the recent “How We Will Pay” survey* by PYMNTS and Visa, see the opportunity for wearables to improve the way they pay throughout their day with a more secure and seamless cashless payment experience.

Not surprisingly, the continuous rise in mobile connectivity has led to the proliferation of digital payments. And Visa is now in position to make the most of the opportunity at hand.

“Visa continues to focus on delivering the tools and technologies that empower our partners to offer safe, secure and convenient payments to consumers via connected devices,” said Jim McCarthy, executive vice president of innovation and strategic partnerships at Visa Inc. “Partnering with Fitbit on its new Fitbit Pay service is another step forward in the growth of Internet of Things and shows how Visa is enabling companies across the technology industry to help us all move towards a cashless future.”

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According to a provided statement, Fitbit is now the “Official Wearable” and “Official Sleep Tracker” of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Minnesota Lynx and Iowa Wolves in a partnership that extends to the court, arena, back-office and fans.

In short, Fitbit will provide access to devices to all three teams, including business and basketball staffs, offering personalized insights that can be used to gain a competitive advantage and improve performance throughout the organization.

Fitbit’s logo will appear on Timberwolves player uniforms beginning with the 2017-18 season as the team’s jersey patch partner, as well as on the Iowa Wolves jerseys.

“With many synergies between our two organizations, Fitbit is the ideal partner for our first ever jersey patch,” said Timberwolves & Lynx CEO Ethan Casson. “As a business, we are taking a fresh look at technology and innovation, and partnering with a company that also values the importance of data and analytics will serve us both well in the years to come. We look forward to working with Fitbit towards the common goal of improving organizational performance and serving the health and wellness of our communities.”

The post Wearables Giant Hopes to Shoot and Score in the NBA appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Although business appears to have slowed for Fitbit, no one is ready to say that the wearables market won’t remain generally robust and primed for future growth.

Based upon preliminary financial information, Fitbit expects to report 6.5 million devices sold and revenue for the fourth quarter of 2016 to be in the range of $572 million to $580 million, compared to the company’s previously announced guidance range of $725 million to $750 million.

For the full-year 2016, Fitbit expects annual revenue growth to be approximately 17% from the previous forecasted growth of 25% to 26%.

“Fourth quarter results are expected to be below our prior guidance range; however, we are confident this performance is not reflective of the value of our brand, market-leading platform, and company’s long-term potential,” says James Park, Fitbit’s co-founder and CEO.

“While we have experienced softer-than-expected holiday demand for trackers in our most mature markets, especially during Black Friday, we have continued to grow rapidly in select markets like EMEA, where revenue grew 58% during the fourth quarter,” Park adds.

To address this reduction in growth and what we believe is a temporary slowdown and transition period, we are taking clear steps to reduce operating costs. Looking forward, we believe Fitbit is in a unique position to stimulate new areas of demand by leveraging the data we collect to deliver a more personalized experience while developing upgraded versions of existing products and launching additional products to expand into new categories.

As the “overall wearable category leader,” Park says that the company “exited the year with an engaged community of over 23.2 million active users, making us uniquely positioned to be the partner of choice for the healthcare ecosystem, which is a key component of our long-term strategy.”

The post A Stumble But Not a Fall for Wearables appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Fitbit, of course, just announced at CES that it will start shipping its new fitness trackers which include Bluetooth Smart-enabled continuous heart rate monitoring capabilities.

“We applaud Fitbit and other companies for developing these important tools to help consumers track important measures such as heart rate, to take control of their health and wellness,” a statement from Havasy’s organization reads. “The next important step is to ensure that consumers are able to share their personal health data with their health providers, caregivers, family and social networks — in a secure, user-friendly format.”

So, will Fitbit get the message? It’s hard to imagine that the wearables giant won’t, considering how loud the message was.

If you’re not familiar, the Personal Connected Health Alliance, formed by Continua, the mHealth Summit and HIMSS, was founded “to represent the voice of the consumer in personal connected health.”

The post Message to Fitbit: Time to Close the Data Loop appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

According to mHealthWatch, Canalys has just published country level quarterly estimates that show a total of 2.7 million wearable bands shipped worldwide in Q1 2014. And guess who shipped the most? Fitbit once again maintained its leadership position with nearly 50% market share, Canalys finds.

The independent analyst company segments the wearables market into two categories: basic and smart bands. Fitbit continued to ship most of the units in the basic band segment, despite the allergy-related recall of the Fitbit Force.

“While a significant number of Force bands had shipped, the recall only affected the initial roll-out in the US and Canada,” the report summary reads. “The issue was handled well and did not dramatically slow the company’s sales momentum.”

All told, Fitbit’s success speaks volumes about the underlying health of the wearables market.

“Some industry observers are wondering if the wearables market is a failure, but Canalys believes the current dynamics instead reflect the rapidly changing nature of wearable devices,” says Research Analyst Joe Kempton. “More sophisticated sensor technology designed specifically for wearables will be arriving soon. New devices running Android Wear will launch this summer from LG and other vendors, such as Motorola, which is now poised to re-enter the smart band market after exiting it two years ago.”

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