Samsung has revealed the official launch date for its rival to Apple Pay.
Announced earlier this year, Samsung Pay will go live in South Korea on 20 August, before hitting the US on 28 September. Next in line are China, Spain and the UK, which will gain access “in the near future”.
It will allow you to store debit and credit cards, as well as store-branded credit cards, membership cards and gift cards, on your Samsung Galaxy phone, and subsequently make payments by holding that phone up to a retailer’s payment terminal.
While Apple Pay’s already been around for a while, we believe the South Korean giant could swiftly gain the upper hand over its American rival.
Why? Simply because Samsung Pay has addressed the matter of retail support. You’ll be able to make payments using Samsung Pay even in shops that still use the old-fashioned card swipe system.
While using Apple Pay, we quickly realised that most payment terminals still employ magstripe readers, making swiping the number one method of making a payment. In other words, since Apple Pay only plays nice with NFC reader-equipped terminals, it’s still very limited.
Samsung, meanwhile, has implemented Magnetic Secure Transmission technology into its payment system. This essentially fools classic magnetic stripe card reader technology into thinking a physical card is being swiped through, when it’s actually a digital signal.
As such, retailers won’t need to upgrade in order to accept mobile payments from Samsung Pay devices.
“NFC is a fine technology, but most stores don’t accept it,” said Samsung. “It’s not about being first in the market, but about creating a compelling technology that removes this type of friction.”
Needless to say, Samsung Pay does also support NFC technology.
Samsung has also talked up its service’s security credentials, assuring users that it’s safe from malware due to Samsung Knox. It also says it’s partnered with Visa, MasterCard, American Express and plenty more payment firms (listed above).
SEE ALSO: Our frustrating week with Apple Pay
Samsung hasn’t yet clarified which of its handsets will support the payment system, but the brand new Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ are certain to be compatible.
Need a new mobile but torn between the Samsung Galaxy S6, iPhone 6 and HTC One M9? Watch the clip below.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
