Samsung is taking a different approach toward mobile payments.
Samsung Pay, which is a mobile payment service that allows Samsung users to make payments using compatible phones, is different from other payment systems, which officials believe will lead to more customer engagement and a better customer experience.
Dan Tuckman, Project Manager for Samsung Pay, talked to Loyalty360 about the company’s approach toward mobile payments.
“In addition to being simple and secure, Samsung also believes that consumer use of mobile payments should not be limited to select merchants with NFC terminals,” Tuckman said. “Working with the largest POS makers, Samsung Pay is driving toward the goal of universal merchant acceptance, which is critical to consumer adoption.”
Currently, Tuckman noted, Samsung Pay is the most widely accepted mobile payment system.
“Samsung Pay works with the majority of existing and new terminals, including most magnetic stripe, EMV, and NFC terminals,” he explained. “Samsung Pay is the only contactless payment solution that works at over 90% of the top 250 retailers and the vast majority of merchants, including small, local businesses.”
As of June 2016, Samsung Pay is already available in Australia, Spain, and Singapore. In June, Samsung Pay began operations in Spain, its first market in Europe; Singapore, its first within the South East Asian region; and Australia, its first market within the Oceania region. These launches mark a significant milestone in the service’s global expansion, with a number of additional markets, including Brazil, Canada, and the U.K. coming this year.
Apple Pay only works with sales terminals equipped with Near Field Communications (NFC) technology, but phones compatible with Samsung Pay use both NFC and MST, the latter which is a new technology that allows Samsung Pay to work on older POS terminals. MST is Samsung’s innovative technology that delivers secure transactions for new EMV chip and NFC terminals, as well as traditional, magnetic strip terminals.
Apple Pay is currently available on its late-model iPhones and the Apple Watch. Samsung Pay is available on its newer Galaxy mobile phones and some tablets.
“Samsung Pay is breaking down the barriers to widespread adoption—precisely because of its widespread acceptance,” Tuckman said.
Thanks to Samsung’s MST technology, Samsung Pay is the only payment solution that works almost anywhere consumers can swipe or tap a card.
“That means merchants don’t have to make costly upgrades to their terminals,” Tuckman explained. “In addition, Samsung Pay is compatible with NFC-equipped terminals. Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) is a technology that emits a magnetic signal that mimics the magnetic strip on a traditional payment card. MST is more secure than using a traditional payment card and is as secure as paying with NFC. The key difference is that MST technology was designed to be compatible with the majority of existing credit and debit card readers, so it works at more places than any other mobile payment service.”