Samsung intends to expand its mobile payment service in the coming year.
Users will soon be allowed to use Samsung Pay when shopping online. Moreover, the company will soon permit lower-priced Samsung handsets to take advantage of the electronic wallet.
Thomas Ko, Samsung Pay's global co-general manager, confirmed that the company will soon enable Samsung Pay on more Samsung handsets and on online shopping in the U.S.
When it first debuted in South Korea, Samsung only enabled the payment service on its high-end smartphones, including the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy Note 5, and Galaxy S6 Edge Plus.
By bringing Samsung Pay online, it is possible that the company wants to take on other earlier established services, such as Visa Checkout of Visa Inc. and PayPal Holdings Inc.
Ko said that Samsung Pay is now deemed as the most well-received mobile wallet in the U.S. as it works well with new and older credit card terminals. The payment service likewise does not necessitate special arrangements with retailers, thanks to its "Magnetic Secure Transmission" technology.
Android Pay and Apple Pay, in the meantime, require retailers to set up new equipment supporting near-field communication (NFC). This instance, according to consultants, has impacted the popularity of the service.
Since its establishment in the U.S. on Sept. 28, Samsung Pay has already surpassed its archrivals Android Pay and Apple Pay.
Users, for instance, can effortlessly use the service in paying for their purchases in big retail stores, such as Target Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., by simply waiving their phones with the app installed in it.
"For Samsung, moving online could be a smart move," said James Wester, IDC Financial Insights' research director for global payments, to Reuters. "It will help them build customer habit and they can benefit from that when U.S. consumers transact in stores."
Back in October, Samsung said that within the first four weeks of the service in the U.S., it already notched an average of eight transactions per user in the country.
Meanwhile, Android Pay and Apple Pay are already supporting in-app shopping, which allows customers to purchase something at Best Buy or request an Uber.
It's not clear if Samsung Pay support will only be limited to in-app payments or will allow users to pay for items via web browsers, akin to PayPal.
Furthermore, it is not yet known as to when Samsung plans to bring the service expansion to other countries.
