Samsung Pay has finally reached Australia, aiming to provide a simple and convenient solution for payments so you can forget about your wallet.
The company teamed up with American Express and Citibank to launch Samsung Pay in Australia, the fifth market to get the contactless mobile payments service. These partnerships mean that Australian citizens can use their Amex or Citibank cards to tap and pay with their Samsung smartphone at contactless terminals. It's worth pointing out, however, that cards branded Amex, but issued by other banks, will not work with Samsung Pay.
Australia now follows Korea, the United States, China and Spain as the latest market to support Samsung Pay, while Singapore is the next in line.
For those unfamiliar with Samsung's mobile payments solution, here's what you need to know. Samsung Pay works with Galaxy smartphones running Android 6.0 Marshmallow or later.
To start using Samsung Pay, all you need to do is swipe up from the home screen, choose the card you want to use and hold your finger on the home button to verify your fingerprint. Once you complete that process, you will be able to tap your smartphone to a contactless terminal for quick, easy and secure payments. The technology also relies on tokenization, which ensures that merchants do not get access to your card details.
"Payments can only be authorized through your fingerprint scan. So only you can allow transactions with Samsung Pay — providing the highest level of security," Samsung points out.
"Samsung Pay protects payment information with several layers of security[,] keeping information separate and doesn't store or share it (other than a device-specific token)."
According to the company, Samsung Pay works nearly anywhere you can tap or swipe your card. Considering that NFC-compatible payment terminals and contactless chip cards are already widely used in Australia, Samsung Pay should have a strong debut in the country.
Rival Apple Pay has been available in Australia since October 2015, and Apple wants to expand its availability in all significant markets as soon as it can. It may have a notable head-start in Australia, but Samsung is catching up and is definitely competitive.
Samsung assured financial institutions and merchants that, unlike Apple, it will not bite a "clip" of interchangeable fees. The company just wants Samsung Pay to serve as many users as possible, potentially convincing more consumers to buy Samsung devices.
Samsung sees a "tremendous opportunity" in Australia, as there's already a strong demand for contactless payments in the country.
In addition to payments, Samsung Pay could also integrate with a range of partners, from retailers to ticketing companies or government departments, adds Samsung.
The company explains how its Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology allows for wider compatibility, allowing Samsung Pay to play nice with partners that use magnetic strips found on gift, loyalty and transit cards.
"It's our goal to one day replace wallets, by making every card accessible on Samsung smartphones," says Elle Kim, Samsung Pay Global Vice President.
Samsung has yet to announce any partners in the Australian public transport segment, but it could soon move in this direction. We'll keep you up to date with any new developments, so stay tuned.
