Samsung Electronics Co. announced the success of Samsung Pay, the company's mobile payment system, in South Korea.
According to the Korean conglomerate, Samsung Pay has processed transactions that amount to a total of $30 million in just one month after its debut. Note that the mobile payment solution was implemented on Aug. 20.
Although 1.5 million transactions amounting to $30 million may seem small for a country as populated as South Korea, keep in mind that Samsung Pay only covered Samsung's premium mobile device releases — the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge and Galaxy Note 5.
The majority of the transactions, 60 percent, were done through the Galaxy Note 5, a phablet that Samsung launched last month. The numbers speak of how well the Note 5 is performing in South Korea.
The limited coverage is due to device compatibility with the app, which requires support for magnetic secure transmission (MST), the same technology that governs credit card readers.
"Although the details on Samsung Pay usage are constantly being updated, the response we've received so far has been beyond our expectations," said Samsung Electronics vice president Rhee In-jong. "We knew Samsung Pay would be a game changer in the mobile payment industry, and now with the user data, we are seeing the greater impact it is having on consumer behavior and on the lifestyles of our customers."
Samsung Pay users can link their credit and debit cards by filling the needed fields that the app specifies. Once linked, users can pay for purchases by lightly tapping a connected payment terminal (point of sale device) with the phone. If this sounds familiar, it's because the competing solutions that were released ahead of it, namely Android Pay and Apple Pay, have the same functionality.
However, the competitors lack MST support, which gives Samsung Pay more backward compatibility capabilities, allowing it to be accepted by more merchants, especially those who are still using mag-stripe readers for credit cards.
Samsung plans to launch Samsung Pay in the U.S. on Mon., Sept. 28. China and Europe are also being considered.
The company provides a quick insight on Samsung Pay.
