Samsung Pay is off to a strong start — it's already soared past 500,000 users, and it hasn't even made its U.S. debut yet.
In today's mobile-driven world, mobile payment solutions are becoming increasingly important, and heavyweight companies are racing to position their services as the go-to solution.
Samsung Pay is a mobile wallet and payments service that's Samsung's answer to Apple Pay and Google's Android Pay. While still in its beginnings, Samsung's mobile payment service is shaping up as a strong player.
Samsung Pay made its debut in Samsung's home country of South Korea on Aug. 20. Samsung has yet to provide official numbers on the adoption rates, but Business Korea now reports that Samsung Pay has already exceeded 500,000 users. According to the publication, both Samsung and the ICT Industry were surprised to see these high adoption rates for the mobile payments service.
With such a strong start in South Korea, Samsung is reportedly boosting its efforts to expand the availability of the service to other markets as well. Samsung Pay is set to launch in the U.S. on Sept. 28, hit China by the end of this year, and launch in Europe, including the U.K. and Spain, at some point as well.
Samsung has already teamed up with major financial companies to set up distribution networks and Samsung Pay is bound to expand its global availability even more in time. For now, Samsung has signed deals with Bank of America, Visa, MasterCard and U.S. Bank in the U.S., and it also finalizing its deal with China's largest card issuer, UnionPay.
It remains to be seen how successful Samsung Pay will be in other markets, but its initial performance in South Korea is promising.
"If this trend continues, it seems to be only a matter of time to surpass 1 million subscribers in one to two months," Business Korea points out.
Samsung Pay would likely see even greater success if it works with a wider range of smartphones, not just with a few Galaxy smartphones from Samsung's elite lineup.
