Everything you need to know about Samsung Pay
Samsung Pay now supports Chase credit cards and several credit unions
Mobile payments are really heating up in 2015, after Apple made a huge push into the space with Apple Pay, and Google introduced Android Pay. Now, Samsung has joined the fray with its own mobile payment system called Samsung Pay. Here’s what you need to know.
Updated on 11-23-2015 by Malarie Gokey: Added in news that Samsung Pay now supports Chase cards and cards from a number of credit unions.Jump to the list of supported banks for more.Click on a link to jump to a topic:
List of countries
Samsung launched Samsung Pay in South Korea on August 20, and in the U.S. on September 28, while the UK, Spain, and China will follow later this year. According to SamMobile, the mobile payments service will launch in China, Spain, and the United Kingdom in the first quarter next year.Samsung previously confirmed with the Telegraph that Samsung Pay would launch in the U.K. ahead of other European countries in August. The company did say it would need to reach agreements with local banks before launching in the country, which shouldn’t be that hard considering Apple Pay paved the way for contactless mobile payments support in the U.K. earlier this year.
Samsung extended a partnership with MasterCard overseas, which will allow Samsung Pay users in European territories to activate debit, credit, and reloadable prepaid cards on MasterCard’s payments platform.
At first, only Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, and U.S. Cellular supported Samsung Pay in the U.S., but Verizon Wireless subsequently announced on Twitter it had evaluated the service, and would also provide the feature to its subscribers.
Verizon promised an over-the-air software update to enable Samsung Pay on compatible phones, and reports started to spread in mid-October that the software had begun to arrive on some phones, while a post on Verizon’s support pages detailed the update, suggesting a wider launch is imminent. Samsung then released a statement saying that from October 21 from midday ET, Verizon Galaxy phone owners would gain access to the Samsung Pay app on the Google Play Store, which suggests the majority will have received the update by that point, or will do in the very near future.
Here are all the Samsung Pay supported devices
Samsung Pay is currently limited to the Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge Plus, and Note 5, but in the near future we will see further support for Samsung devices and perhaps others.Non-flagship phones will get it soon
Samsung chief executive officer of Samsung’s mobile division, JK Shin, confirmed that last month, and executive vice president Injong Rhee — in charge of Samsung Pay — followed up in an interview with ZDNet, saying:
“Despite the strong push from headquarters, and high expectations for it to become a big business, our sales team initially had its doubts. But when Samsung Pay rolled out here, handset sales rose concurrently, and the sales team saw the benefits first-hand. Now our sales teams in other regions all want to do the same.”
Rhee didn’t confirm any of the devices set to receive Samsung Pay support, but did confirm that the update is coming in a few months to “non-flagship” devices. In mid-November, a report in the Korea Herald quotes a Samsung analyst, who states Samsung Pay may come to low and mid-range phones in the first half of 2016. Additionally, an industry source says Samsung will add fingerprint sensors to some of its ‘budget smartphone models,’ an essential part of Samsung Pay integration.
Samsung may not limit Samsung Pay to its Android phones, and the Korea Herald report mentions the possibility the feature may be added to Samsung’s Tizen smartphones, although the aforementioned analyst says this “would have little impact on the market,” given Tizen’s limited market reach.
Returning to Samsung’s VP Injong Rhee’s comments, he also confirmed the next Gear smartwatch will feature full Samsung Pay support. Currently, the Gear S2 supports Samsung Pay in a limited capacity. It works at NFC-enabled terminals, but not at regular terminals. As such, the application of Samsung Pay with the Gear S2 is less widespread than it is with compatible Samsung phones, which have MST technology that enables mobile payments at non-NFC terminals. The next Samsung smartwatch would, in theory, have MST and work at ordinary registers, too — just like the phones do now.
