Billed as being "simple, secure and almost anywhere", Samsung Pay has reached that milestone globally in 24 markets – which has included Australia since June 2015, and which secured Australia's four major banks by March 2018, for a total of 45 financial institutions in Australia at that time.
Now comes Samsung Pay's third anniversary, having originally launched in South Korea on 20 August 2015.
Since then, Samsung reports its payment service having "experienced significant global growth and is now available in six continents and 24 markets, including the latest market, South Africa".
{loadposition alex08}Samsung stated: "Thanks to the support and partnership of thousands of banks and countless network, merchant and service providers across the globe, Samsung recently passed more than 1.3 billion transactions globally."
The six continents are: North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania.
The 24 markets are: South Korea, the US, China, Spain, Singapore, Australia, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Sweden, the UAE, Taiwan, Switzerland, Hong Kong, the UK, Vietnam, Mexico, Italy, Canada and South Africa, with "preliminary access" available in France.
D.J. Koh, president and chief executive of IT and Mobile Communications Division, Samsung Electronics, said: “Since we launched Samsung Pay three years ago, we have been dedicated to delivering a mobile wallet platform that is simple, secure and works almost anywhere. We have been expanding its availability and forming strategic partnerships in each market to meet the unique needs of their users.
“And we’re not limiting ourselves to a mobile wallet – by integrating with our other mobile services, consumers will be able to earn Samsung Rewards points, use Bixby for a more seamless payment experience and more.”
In Australia, before the above news was launched, I conducted a video interview with Hodgson, to share his thoughts on why using mobile wallets is the perfect balance of secure and convenient.
Here is the video interview; the article continues thereafter, please read on!
As we all know, consumers these days value convenience above all else.
They’re looking for things to be quick and easy, and that’s why mobile payments and digital wallets have become such a popular way to make purchases. But letting a phone hold access to you bank accounts and credit cards can be risky.
With recent events like [the] Facebook/Cambridge Analytica [scandal], it’s now more important than ever for consumers to take a look at how they are protecting their personal data.
That’s why it’s so important for consumers to use technology that offers a balance of security with convenience.
Samsung Pay is meeting this fine line between convenient and secure, and Samsung states its Knox Technology mobile payments are both secure and protected, as Knox uses tokenisation of card details.
Payment card information is protected by substituting card numbers with a unique code identified using algorithms. This ‘token’ is then used to send the transaction, meaning your direct card details like the card number have not been transmitted in the transaction.
But protecting consumer’s personal data goes far beyond tokenisation. Technologies like one-time password requirements and user authentication through iris scans, fingerprint or passcode are all equally important to protecting consumers banking details.
Ultimately, with the right security in place, digital wallets can offer the ability to pay with peace of mind.
So, what is more news of Samsung Pay's global growth?
Well, we're told the growth of Samsung Pay highlights the company’s localised and open approach to mobile payments.
With approximately 2000 banking and financial partners globally, we're told Samsung Pay offers value-added services based on local market needs, including:
- Online payments, now available in 15 markets, including Australia, Brazil, Switzerland and Taiwan.
- Transit cards in 5 markets, including China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and the UK.
- Loyalty and membership cards in 20 markets, including Canada, France, Mexico and Sweden.
- ATM transactions in 5 markets including Russia, South Korea, the UAE, the US and Vietnam.
- Samsung Rewards, offering points to purchase merchant partner vouchers and Samsung products and services, available in 10 markets, including India, Malaysia, Spain and the US.
- Pay Planner, helping users spend more wisely by tracking their transaction history and analysing their consumption pattern in South Korea and the UAE.
- Bixby integration, allowing users to make purchases at popular merchants with one simple request.
Samsung tells us that it takes "a localised approach for every launch, ensuring that the partnerships, value-added services and capabilities of Samsung Pay are customised for each market to provide the optimum mobile wallet service".
"Samsung also works with existing payment services so that when the service is introduced in the market, it’s seamlessly integrated into the payment infrastructure.
"For example, in Hong Kong, Samsung exclusively partnered with Octopus Card to bring NFC-enabled Octopus payments to the market’s diverse transit and retail establishments, offering customers a fast and simple payment experience.
"Samsung’s partnership network extends with support from retail and corporate leaders, including 'Ticket', one of the largest benefits card providers for organisations in Brazil, and El Corte Inglés department store in Spain.
"By taking a localised approach to partnerships like these, millions of users benefit from having a centralized and secure payments platform across multiple card types, and exclusive rewards such as product vouchers, instant rebates and extra loyalty points."
Samsung states its "model of open collaboration extends into the broader payments industry through partnerships with major financial institutions, including Alipay (China), WeChat Pay (China), BHIM UPI (India), PAYCO (South Korea), Chase Pay (US), PayPal (US), and NAPAS (Vietnam).
"By partnering with these financial leaders", Samsung says its service "provides consumers with a more functional mobile payment platform. Additionally, with PayPal, users can now pay offline, and soon online via Samsung Pay".
"Other partnerships, such as those with Chase Pay and PAYCO (South Korea) use Samsung’s MST technology, giving customers even greater flexibility in how they make payments."
Here's the Samsung Pay infographic, which you can see in full resolution by clicking here or the image below: