Samsung Electronics Australia have added support for their mobile payment service Samsung Pay to the recently released Gear S3 smartwatch, as well as the earlier Gear S2.
Samsung Pay allows users to make contactless credit card payments using both Near Field Communication (NFC) and Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) almost anywhere regular credit card payments are supported.
“The ability to make payments from our Gear S2 and S3 watches using Samsung Pay will give Australians yet another layer of convenience when shopping and allow them to make payments quickly and easily,” Samsung Australia’s head of IT and mobile division Richard Fink said.
“For the first time, Australians will be able to use Samsung Pay to tap their Gear wristwatch and purchase their Christmas gifts, pay for their coffee while on the run, or pay for their taxi ride, all without the need to carry a wallet or smartphone,” Mr Fink said.
To authenticate purchases on Gear devices, users enter a 4-digit PIN and then tap to make a payment.
As a security measure, users are required to authenticate Samsung Pay each time they put on their Gear smartwatch, and connection to a compatible internet-connected smartphone is periodically required to ensure encryption tokens and transaction history are kept up-to-date.
Samsung Pay is currently available for cards issued by American Express and Citi in Australia.
