The company noted that many of these users are from South Korea and the US and added that in the first six months since its release, the service has processed over USD 500 million.
Already in the works are plans to bring Samsung Pay to more markets, starting this March with China, a market that Apple recently entered, and continuing to Australia, Brazil, Singapore, Spain, and the UK. Canada is also being considered, although there’s no specific time frame for that launch.
Samsung has revealed that it’s still in the process of building an extensive partnership ecosystem, adding to the 70 major and regional banks already in play. It has partnered with credit card providers BC Card, Hana Card, KB Kookmin Card, Lotte Card, NH NongHyup Card, and Samsung Card in South Korea to provide an online payment service in the country. This allows consumers to leverage the Samsung Pay fingerprint authentication to pay for goods and services online.
Other developments include eventual support for American Express, China UnionPay, MasterCard, and Visa, which will make the service more accessible to millions of people around the world. Samsung Pay is also setting its sights beyond just credit and debit cards. Eventually, users will be able to add transit passes, coupons, and membership cards.
Samsung Pay operates similarly to Apple Pay, allowing users to make payments at retail stores directly from their phone. They swipe up on the screen, designate a card, place a finger on the scanner or enter a pin number. It uses near field communication and LoopPay’s magnetic secure transmission technology and is available to those with the Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 edge, and S6 edge plus.
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