Samsung launched Samsung Pay in the UK on May 16, just 6 days back. The payment service rolled out after months of speculations and waiting by fans. Samsung Pay was only supported by three UK banks namely, HSBC (Mastercard & Visa Credit and Debit Cards), Nationwide (Visa Credit and Debit Cards) and AMEX (Amex Credit and Debit Cards). It was believed that more banks would key into the rapidly expanding payment platform as time goes on, and it is great to see them rolling in.
The British bank, Santander UK, has announced that it now supports Samsung Pay both on its debit and credit cards. Santander UK customers can now use Samsung Pay by linking their Santander debit or credit card to their Samsung device so they can make secure mobile payments at any contactless payment terminal. Apart from the Santander debit or credit card, Santander’s other card types like ATM only cash cards, Visa Top-up Debit Card and Business VISA Electron Cards are not allowed.
As usual, Santander UK bank account holders will need to have one of the Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, Galaxy S7, S7 Edge, S8 and S8+. The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and the Tizen-running gear S3 and S2 are yet to get support for Samsung Pay in the UK but we believe those will join soon.
The steps to setting up a Santander UK card for Samsung Pay is seamless and easy. It involves downloading Samsung Pay app on the Galaxy Appstore and then setting up your fingerprint as well as backup PIN for authenticating transactions. The Galaxy S8 and S8+ also come with an additional iris scanner for authenticating transactions. You can then use your device’s camera to scan in your Santander card details. A verification code will then be sent by the bank which needs to be entered on the phone for the setup to become completed. Santander UK.
Samsung Pay offers users the ability to pay for goods and services in shops without the need to carry cash around or even carry debit or credit cards. Users can also make use of the card to pay for Transport for London (Tfl) services. This option doesn’t even require the use of a fingerprint or PIN to authenticate the transaction and the phone doesn’t even need to wake up. A simple touch of the middle section of your phone (where the antenna is located) against the card reader is all that is needed.
With this recent development, Samsung Pay is now supported by four banks in the UK and thousands of merchants. Keep following Tizen Experts for news on more banks joining Samsung Pay.
