Samsung Pay was launched to give Samsung Galaxy smartphone users their own bragging rights when it comes to mobile payments, but its most lethal contribution to the market, without a doubt, is its integration with traditional card readers rather than NFC-only terminals. Traditional card reader integration continues to remain a staple trademark of Samsung Pay while its competitors Apple Pay and Android Pay continue heading in what could be seen as the wrong direction.
And yet, Samsung Pay, despite its lethal contribution, has the challenge of reaching the worldwide market and pressing beyond a few major international banks. After having brought Samsung Pay to 38 more Australian banks as of June, bringing its total to 41, the Korean giant has teamed up with Australia and New Zealand banking group ANZ to bring Samsung Pay to its customers.
ANZ’s addition of Samsung Pay to its mobile payments setup gives ANZ an advantage over many other banks: it has added the 4th payment system to its platform, bringing the total of mobile payments platforms it provides to 4 (Android Pay with Google, Apple Pay with Apple, Samsung Pay with Samsung, and its own solution, ANZ Mobile Pay).
“It made sense for us to introduce Samsung Pay in Australia given its strong market share and open approach to technology that its customers highly value,” said ANZ managing director of products Bob Belan.
“ANZ customers are now best placed to select which mobile payment service they want to use and with the addition of Samsung Pay we continue to offer the best range of the major banks in Australia.”
Samsung Pay has now paired with over 40 payment card brands and over 100 different types of loyalty cards. The platform boasts over 870 bank partnerships worldwide and has processed more than 240 million transactions over the past 18 months. Market research firm Juniper says that Samsung Pay will reach 34 million users worldwide by the end of 2017.
Samsung’s market competitor, Apple Pay, will boast over 86 million users by 2017’s end but has been stifled in Australia, as Australian banks desire to gain access to NFC controllers in iPhones and offer their own rival payment systems using the technology behind Apple Pay. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) denied NFC controller authorization to Australian banks back in March, allowing Apple Pay to maintain its own unique setup in the country. Australian banks see mobile payments as their area of expertise, not mobile device manufacturers, and the intersection of technology and finance will only intensify the conflict for the foreseeable future.
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