Mobile payment systems are still not available in many regions, but they are likely to become very popular in the near future. Samsung’s own system called Samsung Pay was first launched in South Korea and it was immediate deemed to be a success. Following which, it was launched in the US and again with great success. The company has been doing everything it can to promote the service, they have created various advertisements and recently toured many states in the US to explain to consumers and local retailers the advantages of using their payment system. They have also been adding more partners to offer exclusive deals or promotions to encourage more people to use it.
It is now being reported that Samsung is planning to launch their system in more regions, including China, Spain and the UK in the first quarter of 2016. One of the advantages of Samsung’s payment system compared to other popular systems like Android Pay or Apple Pay is that Samsung has enabled its four flagship devices with Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology, so it can be used with older credit card terminals, so local retailers don’t need to upgrade their terminals to newer ones that use NFC technology. The compatible phones are the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Galaxy Note 5, and Samsung is considering bringing Samsung Pay into mid-range devices, despite not being compatible with MST. This is also the case for Samsung’s newest smartwatch, as the Gear S2 is supposed to support Samsung Pay, but it doesn’t have MST.
Samsung seems committed with MST, at least for the time necessary for NFC terminals to become widely available, so this technology might be integrated into more devices next year. Samsung Pay will probably reach more regions next year and Samsung will have to partner with more carriers to bring support to their phones and they will also have to partner with banks that issue credit or debit cards to include them on phones. It remains to be seen if more companies that make Android devices will take a similar approach or just settle with Android Pay, and let’s not forget that some banks are also thinking of creating their own mobile payment systems to compete with tech companies.