The Android 7.0 Nougat update for the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge in India is apparently shipping with the Samsung Pay app, which implies that Samsung will soon launch its mobile payments service in the country. Rumors from last December suggested that Samsung Pay will be introduced in India by the first half of 2017.
On Thursday, Samsung started rolling out the Android 7.0 Nougat update for the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge in India. Once the device is rebooted after installing the software update, users are greeted with a teaser message that reads “The future of payments is coming soon!” The company is expected to soon make an official announcement about the arrival of Samsung Pay in India. The Seoul-based tech giant is gradually introducing its mobile payments service to new countries. Samsung Pay is already available in various markets like Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain and the U.S. At the end of 2016, rumors started swirling that the company started testing Samsung Pay for the Indian market. Samsung Pay supports both NFC and MST, meaning that the mobile payment service can be used for making payments at NFC-enabled terminals as well as outlets equipped with conventional debit and credit card readers. At the moment, the Samsung Pay service is available on the Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 Edge+, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 Active, and the Galaxy S6. It is also available on smartwatches like the Gear S2 and the Gear S3, though the former only supports NFC payments. Recent rumors suggest that the company may also make its mobile payments solution available on mid-range smartphones.
The demonetization of some currency denominations in India started back in November. Ever since then, an increasing number of people started making payments through debit and credit cards. Mobile payments services like Paytm, Freecharge, and MobiKwik also started gaining significant traction in India after the demonetization started. Given that state of affairs, Samsung certainly stands to benefit if it manages to launch Samsung Pay in India in the near future. More information will hopefully follow soon.
