Samsung Pay is adding support for PayPal accounts which will allow users to integrate their PayPal accounts and use them as a form of payment using Samsung’s mobile payment solution. This means users will be able to select compatible credit or debit cards like before, but will also now have the ability to pay while drawing money from their PayPal account instead if they wish to do so. This marks a big change for Samsung Pay in the mobile payment space as it puts them on even ground with Android Pay, which recently started adding PayPal account support to its mobile payment service earlier this year.
Once PayPal accounts are integrated with Samsung Pay users will be able to select their PayPal account to make payments for purchases at all the same places they can already pay with there credit or debit cards through Samsung Pay, which includes online purchases, in-store purchases where Samsung Pay is accepted, and for in-app purchases for apps which support Samsung Pay. Perhaps as to be expected, Samsung is making this option available to U.S.-based Samsung Pay users first while introducing it to other regions soon where Samsung Pay is already up and running. However, Samsung doesn’t mention when exactly that U.S. users will see this option appear in their Samsung Pay app.
It isn’t mentioned where users will be able to add PayPal into their Samsung Pay accounts, though it’s pretty likely that the option will be available in both the Samsung Pay app and in the PayPal app, as this was the case with Android Pay. Also unknown is where in each app this option will be located. For instance, with Android Pay, integrating PayPal with Android Pay inside of the PayPal app is done from the settings menu, so it’s possible that Samsung Pay will appear as a similar option. For U.S. users that have Samsung Pay installed on their devices, it’s entirely possible that the option to integrate PayPal is already being made available, so if you’re interested in using it you can check to see if it’s possible to add PayPal as a payment option. If the integration isn’t live, it’s either not been pushed out yet or it’s just hitting users in waves.