Samsung will go head-to-head with rival Apple in the mobile payments sphere, unveiling plans to launch its own service, Samsung Pay.Samsung states Samsung Pay will provide secure mobile payments at nearly all merchant locations, with the service utilising both NFC and a new proprietary technology called Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST).
Apple
Pay, which launched in the US last year, operates via NFC,
employing Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint screening technology,
available on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
Samsung recently announced it will acquire mobile wallet solutions provider LoopPay, developer of the MST technology, which is capable of working in conjunction with existing point-of-sale terminals.
Samsung states the service has the potential of being accepted at approximately 30 million merchant locations worldwide.
Having partnered with MasterCard and Visa, Samsung is working to include American Express, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and U.S. Bank.
“Samsung Pay will reinvent how people pay for goods and services and transform how they use their smartphones,” commented JK Shin, Samsung Electronics CEO and Head of IT & Mobile Communications Division.
“The secure and simple payment process, coupled with our robust partner network, makes Samsung Pay a truly game-changing service that will bring value to consumers and our partners in the ecosystem.”
Samsung Pay will initially be available on Samsung’s next-gen Galaxy S6 and S6 edge smartphones, launching mid-year in the US and Korea.
