Tech giant Samsung Electronics continues to celebrate the steady growth and wide receivership of its payment platform Samsung Pay. The company recently expanded the payment service into four markets in the space of two days. Samsung Pay made its official debut in Sweden, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and also made its entry into early access in Hong Kong and Switzerland.
The official launch in these four countries brings the mobile payment service to new regions of the world, while at the same time expanding into new markets in regions where Samsung Pay already exists. In this instance, Sweden and UAE are both Samsung Pay’s first markets in the Nordic region and the Middle East respectively. While the early access now available in Hong Kong and Switzerland is a clear demonstration of the company’s drive to explore new frontiers in Asia and Europe.
Samsung Pay will now also integrate loyalty and membership cards in the two new countries where it was launched. Users in Sweden and the UAE will get loyalty and membership cards which can be added to users’ mobile wallets without the need for physical cards. The service in Switzerland will also support pre-paid cards which will allow users to pay using their preferred cards outside the normal credit and debit option. The company is also working on rolling out more customized services in the countries where Samsung Pay is available.
With the latest addition, Samsung Pay is now available in 14 markets, including South Korea, the United States, China, Spain, Singapore, Australia, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Sweden and the UAE. There are reports that the mobile payment service may be rolling out in the UK this month while France may get the service in September. Taiwan is another country where the payment services may launch by the end of this month as well.
The company also took time out to reminisce on the evolution of the mobile payment platform since it came to life less than two years ago in Korea. According to Samsung, the mission of Samsung Pay is to empower customers with mobile payments that are simple, secure and available almost anywhere and they are gradually working towards making that happen globally. Samsung’s Thomas Ko, VP and Global General Manager of Samsung Pay had this to say about the mobile payment,
“Today, Samsung Pay is so much more. Our launches in different parts of the world demonstrate governments’ and consumers’ changing attitudes towards progressing to a cashless society. It is through the interest and support of our partners that we are able to answer their needs by offering Samsung Pay in these markets. We are incredibly proud of our rapid expansion and growth in such a short period of time, and look forward to bringing the most comprehensive digital wallet to all our users around the world.”
Samsung Pay on the Galaxy S8, S8+ and Gear S3
In other news, the recently launched Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+, as well as the Gear S3 which made its debut last year, bring users new exclusive features which makes for an exceptional experience while using Samsung Pay. The Galaxy S8 and S8+ offer users a new biometric authentication method using the iris scanner technology in addition to the fingerprint authentication method already available.
Also, the Samsung Gear S3, which is one of only two Tizen-powered devices currently supporting Samsung Pay, can now be used for Samsung Pay in three new markets. Samsung Pay became supported on the Gear S3 in Russia from April, as well as in Sweden and the UAE. This is coming as an addition to the US, Singapore and Australia where the Gear S3 already supports Samsung Pay. The Tizen-powered Gear S2 also supports Samsung Pay.
Video
Check out the video below showing the ease of mobile payments using Samsung Pay:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI77umMboOI&feature=youtu.be
