Samsung Pay Becomes Available In The US

Samsung Pay, the mobile payments service of the South Korean tech company, went live on Monday for users in the United States. Users will be able to use their smartphones to pay for items they purchase. It can also be used on retail terminals that are not compatible with Apple Pay.

Among the devices compatible with the service are Samsung Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Note 5 units using the wireless networks of US Cellular, T-Mobile, AT&T and Sprint. While the service is not supported by Verizon, Samsung revealed that it is working on preloading the service into the phones offered by the wireless carrier. Previously, Verizon supported Isis, which was rebranded into Softcard, before Android Pay absorbed the mobile payment service near the start of the year.

The South Korean company revealed it is planning to enter other markets, including the UK, Spain and China. Samsung Pay chief Injong Rhee said the service is compatible to nearly all card terminals and it provides Galaxy owners a unique shopping experience when they use it,

Samsung Pay was initially unveiled by the South Korean company last March. The service essentially allows users to purchase items by simply waving their smartphone near the checkout register of a store, similar to Apple Pay. The two tech giants are aiming to promote customer loyalty with the new feature as competition in the smartphone market has increased.

Samsung Pay Becomes Available In The US - image credit: engadget.com

The system was acquired by Samsung when it purchased LoopPay near the start of the year. The company believes in the advantage of the system since its devices can work with a good number of stores and merchants in the market. A near-field communication or NFC chip is utilized by the service to allow devices to communicate with compatible registers. Samsung Pay also uses the Magnetic Secure Transmission technology of LoopPay to allow devices to work with standard card swipe readers. This makes the service backward compatible.

While an NFC chip is also used by Apple Pay, there is a limited number of registers using the NFC technology.

In August 20, the service was launched in South Korea and its adoption was supposedly fast, according to the company. Spending in the first month of use reached $30 million in over 1.5 million transactions. Around 60 percent of the transactions were performed using the Samsung Galaxy Note 5.

Rhee revealed in an event in San Francisco last week that response from its customers was “phenomenal.” Rhee added that it exceeded their expectations and there were thousands of new users each day. To encourage US customers to sign up for the Samsung Pay payment service, the company is offering a free wireless charger or wallet flip cover for users using the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ or Galaxy Note 5 in activating the service. The offer will run until October 11.

Posted by George Daniels on Tuesday September 29 2015, 9:15 AM EDT. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Technology. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0