UPDATED 01:29 EDT / DECEMBER 29 2015

NEWS

Samsung Pay in U.S. to add online shopping support, more devices next year

Samsung Electronics Co. plans to expand its mobile payment service, Samsung Pay, in the U.S. next year. The company is bringing ‘online payment support’ to the country as well as expanding the range of smartphones that support its mobile payment service (via Reuters).

When Samsung Pay launched in South Korea and subsequently in the U.S. in September the mobile payment service was limited to Samsung’s flagship smartphones, including the Galaxy S6, the Galaxy S6 Edge, the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, and the Galaxy Note 5.

In an interview with Reuters late last week, Thomas Ko, global co-general manager of Samsung Pay, said that the mobile payment service will be coming to lower-priced Samsung smartphones “within the next year.”

While Samsung told Reuters “online support would be coming soon,” it did not elaborate on what that online support would consist of. Competitors, Apple Pay and Android Pay already support in-app shopping so Samsung could be planning a similar service or it could offer a service similar to PayPal Holdings Inc. and allow consumers to make online payments.

At this stage, Samsung Pay may be trailing behind Android Pay and Apple Pay when it comes to online support for consumers, but it gains the advantage by being able to work with more in-store retailers. Competitors, Apple Pay and Android Pay require retailers to install terminals that support near-field communication (NFC) chips. While on the other hand Samsung Pay has ‘Magnetic Source Transmission’ technology that allows the mobile payment service to work with older point of sale terminals.

“Samsung Pay is already the most widely accepted mobile wallet in the United States because it is compatible with new and older credit card terminals and do not require any special arrangements with retailers,” Ko said. The company stated in October, that within the first four weeks of its U.S. launch, Samsung Pay had an average of eight transactions per U.S. user. However, overall mobile wallets have struggled to gain traction in the U.S.

The company has previously said that it wants to bring Samsung Pay to China, Spain and the U.K. in the future. However, Ko did not provide any comment in his interview with Reuters of where the company plan to expand to next.

Image via Samsung

 


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