The three major launches in mobile payments would be Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay – each competing for their share of the nascent market. But Samsung already has a head start with the launch of the new Samsung Pay in the U.S. It can be used at a lot more merchant and trading locations than its competitors, thanks to support for both contactless payments and magnetic strips. The devices supported by Samsung Pay are Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Note 5. Along with NFC, Samsung also utilises Magnetic Source Transmission or MFT technology which emits a particular unique magnetic code to make magnetic swipe credit facilities work as well. This technology was pioneered by LoopPay, which Samsung acquired back in February to make use of this technology and stay ahead of the competition. The availability of more options to pay is a huge advantage, as the other options are all NFC-only, and the world has not adapted to the new mode of contactless payment yet.
Samsung is not skimping on security either. They have developed a new tokenization system, in which every time a payment is made, the original credit card data is not transferred to the terminal. The phone rather uses temporary data provided by the credit card company. This feature is to avoid a lot of scams happening at large retailer stores, costing the buyer or the seller lots of money. The procedure of using Samsung Pay is standard and matches a lot with Apple. The user has to swipe on the screen, select a card, authenticate using biometric fingerprint sensor available on the device or enter a pin, and the transaction will be complete.
The availability of the service has its fair share of limitations, with support for only a handful of new flagship devices. Backward compatibility with a broad range of devices is expected in the future. The device also supports a debit or credit card issued by VISA, MasterCard and American Express. The only three banks partnering with them at the time of launch are Bank of America, Citi, American Express and US banks. Surprisingly, Samsung Pay also works with loyalty cards. All the major carriers already do support it at large, with Verizon being the only exception.