Digital challenger bank Starling is the first to support Fitbit Pay in the UK

Customers of digital challenger Starling will be able to pay using their Fitbit smartwatch as it becomes the first bank in the UK to support Fitbit Pay.

It marks the wider roll out of the wearable tech company’s challenger to Apple Watch. The Ionic smartwatch launched initially last month in the US, its newest device and its first to get into payments.

Starling added support for Apple Pay, which works on both the Apple Watch and iPhones, over the summer and Android Pay in September.

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“We’re delighted to work closely with Starling Bank to bring contactless payments to its customers in the UK, expanding the reach of Fitbit Pay to even more markets across the globe,” said Fitbit international managing director Des Power.

Mastercard, Visa and Amex both support Fitbit Pay, with more than 10 leading banks signed up across 10 markets, including HSBC, Santander and KBC Bank Ireland, however, Fitbit has not elaborated on a time frame for launch or the exact locations it’s eyeing up.

It comes Apple revealed that Apple Pay now accounts for 90 per cent of all contactless transactions made via mobile, where it’s available, as the tech giant announced it’s launching the service in Scandinavia and the UAE.