Samsung had a lot to talk about during their address at Mobile World Congress this week, not the least of which being a new mobile payment system. Designed to compete with the likes of Apple Pay and others like it, Samsung Pay promises to offer more choices to financial institutions interested in letting their clients pay using mobile phones.
Much like the other options already available, Samsung will take advantage of near-field communications (NFC) –but what sets them apart (and makes all of us a little more excited than we have been about competing services) is that they will also support magnetic secure transmission (MST) and barcodes. Loosely translated, this means Samsung Pay could be supported by nearly any electronic payment terminal (which should mean an increase in the current and meagre 10% adoption rate for mobile payment technology).
Speaking about their new service, Samsung CEO JK Shin noted that Samsung Pay is intended to “reinvent how people pay for goods and services and transform how they use their smartphones.” His statement seems realistic, when you start to read the things banking spokespeople are saying in response. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan is just one of many, stating that: “Samsung Pay is another significant move in that direction for our 17 million mobile customers.”
Samsung Pay will come preloaded on the latest Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge smartphones this summer, with initial support expected for the US and South Korea. Other regions, including Europe and China are planned with no schedule provided (it appears those of us in Canada may have to wait a while to give it a try).
Which mobile payment service are you most interested in? Are you likely to embrace Samsung Pay as soon as you are able?
Jillian Koskie is an experienced software developer, content writer, project manager and usability design expert. With over 17 years in these roles, Jillian has enjoyed applying her skill-set to assist clients and users across a wide variety of sectors including: legal, health, and financial services. Combining these professional opportunities with a love of technology, Jillian is pleased to contribute articles, opinions, and advice to numerous news outlets, websites, and publications.
