Samsung’s mobile payments system, named “Samsung Pay,” allows users to utilize traditional credit card readers with which to make payments from their smartphone and now, even smartwatches get to cash in on the fun. It all started back when Samsung bought mobile payments startup company LoopPay for $250 million in early 2015. The technology behind LoopPay is what made the acquisition a brilliant move on Samsung’s part: MST, or magnetic secure transmission, allows smartphone users to be able to make payments at local grocery stores that don’t have dedicated Near Field Communication (NFC) payment terminals.
Local stores need not upgrade their systems so that you can experience the latest, cutting-edge tech from Samsung, and you need not settle for the usual currency or plastic payment methods that most adhere to. In other words, both stores and consumers can be stubborn and still get what they want. Rarely does this happen in real life, but Samsung has made it happen for all.
Well, the Korean giant behind this genius acquisition is on the move to bring Samsung Pay worldwide so that every customer in every place can appreciate it and use it to their hearts’ (and wallets’) consent. Samsung Pay has made its way to China via China UnionPay, along with major world markets such as its own home country South Korea, the United States, along with Russia (Sberbank), United Arab Emirates (Mashreq Bank), Thailand (eight banks), and even Canada CIBC. Now, Samsung looks to bring Samsung Pay out of beta testing in Malaysia to a service ready for public use. The company confirmed the public release of Samsung Pay on its Newsroom web page. Five banks are supported in Malaysia at this point: Citibank, CIMB, Standard Chartered, and Maybank, with support for Hong Leong Bank arriving shortly.
Samsung Pay is out of beta for Malaysian residents, but keep in mind that only certain devices are declared Samsung Pay-ready in the area: Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge, Galaxy A5 (2016), Galaxy A5 (2017), Galaxy A7 (2016) and Galaxy A7 (2017).
Malaysia now has Samsung’s mobile payments service, but the Korean giant is looking to expand even further into India with its Gear S2 and Gear S3 smartwatches, as has been indicated by recent firmware updates. Samsung has not yet brought Samsung Pay to its Tizen-powered Z1, Z2, and Z3 smartphones – though, with Samsung Pay coming to its Tizen-powered smartwatches (Gear S series), it’s only a matter of time.
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