With the first few units of Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge smartphones starting to reach the early birds, the expected flurry of unboxing videos and hands-on reviews started populating the internet over the past few days. That being the case, many users started noting that the Verizon-specific models of either device did not have the Samsung Pay app pre-loaded. Many theories sprung up as to why that could be the case, especially with Verizon being a partner of Google’s Android Pay, which is in direct competition with services like Samsung Pay and Apple Pay. Some even claimed that the big red was intentionally making Samsung Pay unavailable on their Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge models as part of a larger exclusivity agreement with Android Pay.
With no official explanation forthcoming from either Verizon or Samsung on the issue, speculators had a field day wondering about the reason for the absence of Samsung’s mobile payment platform from the Galaxy S7 devices. However, now we have something concrete straight from the horse’s mouth. Verizon on Wednesday released an official statement, saying that its “Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge devices are compatible with the Samsung Pay app, which Samsung will make available on the Google Play Store soon”. That should definitely end all the rumors and speculations doing the rounds of the internet over the past few days. Of course, some of the reports had already hinted as much earlier this week, but it’s still good to have that clarified officially once and for all.
The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are Samsung’s latest premium smartphones that were introduced last month at the Mobile World Congress trade show held in Barcelona, Spain. The devices replace the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge handsets, which were launched last year by the South Korean consumer electronics giant. As for Samsung Pay, the service has already become fairly popular in quite a few markets around the world, including Samsung’s home country of South Korea. With more and more people expected to use mobile payment platforms for their financial transactions in the coming years, it will be interesting to see which of the platforms will be still left standing when the dust settles.