Samsung Electronics today celebrated the third anniversary of its mobile payment platform, Samsung Pay. Originally launched in South Korea on August 20, 2015, Samsung Pay has experienced significant global growth and is now available in six continents¹ and 24 markets², including the latest market, South Africa. 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.

“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,” said DJ Koh, President and CEO of IT & Mobile Communications Division, Samsung Electronics. “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.”

The growth of Samsung Pay highlights the company’s localized and open approach to mobile payments. With approximately 2,000 banking and financial partners globally, Samsung Pay offers value-added services based on local market needs, including³:

• Online payments, now available in 15 markets, including Australia, Brazil, Switzerland and Taiwan
• Transit cards in 5 markets, including South Korea, China, and the U.K.
• Loyalty and membership cards in 20 markets, including Canada, France, Mexico and Sweden
• ATM transactions in 5 markets including South Korea, Russia, UAE, U.S. 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 U.S.
• 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 takes a localized approach for every launch, ensuring that the partnerships, value-added services and capabilities of Samsung Pay are customized 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 the Octopus Card Limited 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 organizations in Brazil, and El Corte Inglés department store in Spain. By taking a localized 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’s model of open collaboration extends into the broader payments industry through partnerships with major financial institutions, including PAYCO (South Korea), Alipay (China), WeChat Pay (China), BHIM UPI (India), Chase Pay (U.S.), PayPal (U.S.), and NAPAS (Vietnam). By partnering with these financial leaders, Samsung Pay 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 (U.S.) and PAYCO (South Korea) use Samsung’s MST technology, giving customers even greater flexibility in how they make payments.

*All functionality, features and other information provided in this document including, but not limited to, the benefits, performance and availability of the service are subject to change without notice.

¹ Samsung Pay is available in six continents: North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania.

² Samsung Pay is available in 24 markets, including South Korea, U.S., China, Spain, Singapore, Australia, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Sweden, UAE, Switzerland, U.K., Vietnam, Mexico, Italy, Canada and South Africa. Preliminary access is also currently available in France.

³ Service functionality and device compatibility may vary by market and conditions.

Samsung Electronics announced today that Samsung Pay is now available in Italy, marking its ongoing commitment to bringing payment innovation to users around the globe. With the addition of Italy, Samsung Pay now enables users in 21 markets to benefit from simple and secure payments almost anywhere¹.

Samsung’s commitment to transforming the mobile industry was recognized at the annual Global Mobile Awards (GLOMO Awards) during Mobile World Congress 2018, which awarded Samsung Pay ‘Best Mobile Innovation for Payment’. The service was praised not only for being innovative, but also for bringing consumers the world’s first integrated rewards program²; each time users purchase with Samsung Pay, they can earn points to be exchanged for a variety of prizes.

“We strive to deliver the best experiences to our customers. The rapid growth of Samsung Pay has been made possible by Samsung’s commitment to an open model of collaboration around the world, resulting in over 1,700 partnerships, including payment providers Visa and Mastercard®,” said Yongje Kim, Executive Vice President of Service Business Office, Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics. “Its continued support for both MST and NFC payments has also enhanced adoption, enabling market access in countries that support either payment option.”

Samsung Pay is a simple and secure mobile payment service that is available almost anywhere you can swipe or tap your eligible payment card³. By combining Near Field Communication (NFC) technology and its proprietary Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology, Samsung Pay is the most widely accepted mobile payment solution on the market.

Samsung Pay operates with three levels of security: fingerprint or iris⁴ authentication, card tokenization and Samsung’s defense-grade mobile security platform, Samsung Knox. Additionally, Samsung Pay makes mobile payments easy – to launch, a user needs to swipe up on an eligible Samsung Galaxy smartphone, select the card, authenticate using a fingerprint, iris scanning or PIN and bring the phone near the point-of-sale terminal.

Starting today, Samsung Pay is available to users in Italy with compatible Samsung devices, including wearables like the Samsung Gear S3 and Gear Sport, and the new Galaxy S9 and S9+⁵. Samsung Pay works at almost all existing payment locations in Italy that accept credit or debit cards. It also expands the digital wallet experience by allowing customers to use membership cards and providing promotional coupons.

Aligned with Samsung’s approach of building tailored products and services customized to meet the needs of users in each market, several value-added features will be available exclusively to consumers in Italy. These include discounts up to 20% on popular brands, including Daybreak Hotel, EF Education, Leroy Merlin and Moleskine.

About Samsung Pay

Samsung Pay, a mobile payment service from Samsung Electronics, is simple, safe and available almost anywhere you can swipe or tap your card. Combining NFC (Near Field Communication) with Samsung’s proprietary MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission) technologies, Samsung Pay provides consumers a way to pay almost anywhere you can swipe or tap a card at millions of merchant locations. Samsung continues to strategically expand its partnership ecosystem for Samsung Pay to provide greater flexibility, access, and choice for customers while enabling an easy and safe payment experience. Samsung Pay is compatible with select cards and Samsung devices, and leading wireless providers. Please visit www.samsung.com/pay to learn more.

¹ Available almost anywhere, subject to Samsung Pay’s compatibility with MST and/or NFC payment terminals. Card readers on certain payment terminals could require a software update to become fully compatible with Samsung Pay.

² Samsung Pay reward program is available in the U.S., Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brazil and Spain.

³Applicable card type varies depending upon issuer.

⁴ Iris authentication is available for Galaxy S9 and S9+, Galaxy Note8, Galaxy S8 and S8+

⁵ Other compatible devices include the Galaxy Note8, Galaxy S8 and S8+, Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, Galaxy A8, Galaxy A5(2017), Galaxy A5(2016), and the Gear S3 and Gear Sport in Italy.

While wearable payments are just beginning to gain recognition among the masses, many industry experts believe that wearables will match smartphones as a strong payment modality within the next few years, thanks to their convenience in on-the-go situations.

Samsung has been at the forefront of this trend and has now made making mobile payments by wearable even more convenient through its inclusion, in select countries, of Samsung Pay on the Gear S3 smartwatch. Thanks to the Gear S3’s Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) and Near Field Communication (NFC) support, consumers may now utilize Samsung Pay, the company’s simple and secure service that can be used virtually anywhere, to make purchases without a smartphone.

Tapping Into Solutions

While making a Samsung Pay transaction is fast and easy, developing the technology to make it work was not.

To incorporate MST technology on a wearable for the first time, developers had to find a way to embed both MST and NFC antennas in the Gear S3’s small body, which proved to be a challenge on early prototypes. Furthermore, developers also had to ensure that the smartwatch’s battery was powerful enough to drive the service. After much trial and error, they finally found the optimal design.

In regards to usability, the hardware team wanted to ensure that Samsung Pay could be used intuitively on the Gear S3. But the sheer number of existing POS styles, combined with fact that each user has a different way of positioning the smartwatch on the terminal, made arranging the internal hardware components a big challenge.

After spending countless hours collecting data at various shops, the team was eventually able to create a design that enabled the Gear S3 to connect to the terminal regardless of the angle in which the user positions the smartwatch. Nevertheless, some sales clerks are still surprised to see the technology in use.

“I was recently purchasing a soft drink at LAX,” Shankar Narayan, Senior Manager, Samsung Electronics’ Payment Biz Group, begins his story. “After the cashier told me the price, I activated Samsung Pay on my Gear S3 and tapped it on the credit card terminal.”

“‘What are you doing!?’ the cashier enquired surprisingly. By the time he finished his sentence, the receipt was already printing.”

Simple and Easy to Use

To start using the service, users must first download Samsung Pay, which is accessible via the Gear Manager app, onto their Gear S3 and set up the companion app on their mobile device. Once a user registers their cards on their Gear S3, they will no longer require their smartphone to make payments. The user simply needs to long press the side button, enter their PIN, select the card they wish to use and tap the device on any point-of-sale (POS) terminal.

“Samsung Pay is known for being easy to use on a smartphone because of its swipe feature,” notes Jungyouel Bang, Senior Engineer, Samsung Electronics’ Wearable H/W R&D Group. “We wanted to replicate that simplicity on the Gear S3, so we added a button specifically for the pay service.”

Another benefit of Samsung Pay on the Gear S3 is that the service is compatible not only with Samsung devices, but other Android-running smartphones as well*.

Safe and Secure

One of the biggest concerns consumers have when it comes to making mobile payments is security. Just like Samsung Pay on mobile devices, Samsung Pay on Gear S3 uses the same trusted Samsung Knox security to protect personal payment information.

To enhance usability and convenience, developers made it so that a user only has to enter their PIN once to activate Samsung Pay. However, the service is locked when sensors embedded in the Gear S3 detect that the device has been removed from the wrist. As a result, the user must reenter their PIN each time the smartwatch is removed. This ensures that a user’s card information is protected in case the device is lost. Furthermore, Samsung Pay information can easily be deleted via the Find My Mobile website.

Additionally, Samsung Pay works on the Gear S3 in the same way it works on a smartphone—each service transaction uses an encrypted digital token to replace a user’s payment information. For added security, a transaction can only be made by long pressing the dedicated button on the side of the Gear S3. Because a transaction cannot be simulated by software alone, digital pickpockets cannot hack one’s information by way of RFID skimming.

“Nowadays, people are increasingly concerned about security, especially when it comes to mobile payments,” explains Sochang Sohn, Senior Engineer of Samsung Electronics’ Tizen R&D Team. “But when we describe our security architecture to someone who asks about it, their concerns are generally alleviated pretty quickly.”

Going Forward

As noted by Youngjin Choi, Senior Engineer, Samsung Electronics’ Payment Service Group, Samsung remains committed to developing intuitive innovations like the Gear S3 and Samsung Pay, which have the potential to add new facets of convenience to users’ daily lives.

“Samsung Pay on the Gear S3 is ideal for those small, on-the-go payments, when it’s inconvenient to carry a phone or wallet, as a smartwatch is something you can wear every day,” says Choi. “We feel that this is what sets our service apart, and we’re optimistic about its growing adoption and acceptance in the years ahead.”

* Compatible with select devices using Android 4.4 and later in select markets.

The Gear S3 offers two bold, refined designs with sophisticated features such as standalone wireless network connectivity*, a built-in GPS, MST technology and IP68 dust and water resistance. Furthermore, enhanced personalization features, such as customizable watchfaces and interchangeable bands, allow users to make the device their own.

So, whether you’re an adventurer, an on-the-go professional, Superdad or a gearhead, the Gear S3 adds both convenience and fun to your everyday life. See how in the videos below.

*LTE support will be available on the Gear S3 frontier in the U.S. and select countries.

**All functionality, features, specifications and other product information provided in this document including, but not limited to, the benefits, design, pricing, components, performance, availability and capabilities of the product are subject to change without notice or obligation.

The “Samsung Pay on the Road” campaign required that the team cycle across Korea using only Samsung Pay to pay for their expenses.

Leaving their wallets behind, the participants began their four-day expedition on October 29 at Seoul Sports Complex in the nation’s capital. As they traveled the 560-kilometer route to the southern coastal city of Busan, they were able to personally experience all the benefits Samsung Pay has to offer.

For example, they were able to make direct payments, withdraw cash from ATMs, and use membership cards at various businesses, even in the most remote areas of the country.

“We really wanted to prove the point that Samsung Pay can be used virtually anywhere.” stated David Bitton, one of the team members. “So every time I saw a card terminal, I said to myself, ‘That will work.’ And it did—even at fruit stands and seafood markets!”

Another participant, Philipp Rosenbauer, believes that introducing the service to doubtful locals was one of the more satisfying aspects of the trip.

“As members of the Samsung Pay team, we already knew about the benefits that Samsung Pay’s wide acceptance brings to users, thanks to our MST technology,” he noted. “However, ‘Samsung Pay on the Road’ allowed us to experience the widespread acceptance first-hand. Being able to interact with merchants in local markets in the countryside, and watching the service work to the shop owners’ surprise was a fun and rewarding experience.”

In addition to exploring unfamiliar places and trying new things, the team was also able to give back to the community. Based on the distance they traveled during the cross-country trip, the employees were able to raise money to purchase new school supplies and equipment for Hyunpoong Middle School in Daegu, Korea.

The “Samsung Pay on the Road” team gets ready to start their cross-country journey. Pictured (from left) are Philipp Rosenbauer, Chul Song, David Bitton and Derek Shimozawa.

Derek Shimozawa uses Samsung Pay to make a purchase at a seafood market in Busan, Korea.

Philipp Rosenbauer enjoyed being able to introduce the mobile payment service to ticket counter staffs who had never used it before.

The “Samsung Pay on the Road” team took advantage of the many features of Samsung Pay throughout their trip, such as withdrawing cash from ATMs.

Derek Shimozawa uses Samsung Pay to order coffee at an observatory in Yeoju, Korea.

The “Samsung Pay on the Road” team takes a commemorative photograph during their trip.

And what an incredible year it’s been.

We’ve transformed an idea into the most widely accepted mobile payment service globally. We now have more than four million membership cards registered in the United States and South Korea, we expanded our global partner ecosystem and, soon, we’ll be bringing several exciting new features to our customers in the U.S.

While there are many successes to celebrate, the mobile payment industry continues to move forward. Here at Samsung, we’re committed to driving the evolution  by looking at more than just mobile payments.

Combining Technology with a Fundamental Challenge

Samsung Pay was born from the need to solve a simple problem: Payments are too complex. Between cash, credit and debit cards, loyalty cards, gift cards, coupons and receipts, there are too many things to squeeze into our wallets.

At the same time, smartphones have changed the way we live, work and interact with one another. We saw an opportunity to upgrade the wallet as we have traditionally known it by combining it with advanced technology solutions.

From Mind to Market – Turning Ideas Into Reality

Our mission for Samsung Pay goes beyond simply developing technology – we’re driven to create a holistic digital wallet experience. To do this, we need to change the way people think about making purchases.

It’s a hard task but I believe we’re on the right track. As we move forward, we’ll continue to improve our solution and bring more benefits to users, including new value-added services from our expanding partner ecosystem.

New Samsung Pay Features…

Value-added services are critical to making sure we’re upgrading the wallet and making users’ lives more convenient. With this, we’re incredibly excited to announce new features for our U.S. customers.

Knowing that our customers are already enjoying our membership, gift and loyalty cards and more, we are launching a location-based Deals feature. With this new feature, Samsung Pay users will be able to locate discounts and coupons for nearby stores and restaurants within the app and redeem these deals instantly. What I love about this feature is that it’s available to all Samsung Pay users across the country. With the introduction of Deals, we are refreshing the look of the app by making enhancements to the user experience and design.

We’re embarking on a global partnership with Mastercard to offer a seamless online payment and express checkout solution through its digital payment service Masterpass. With this partnership, Samsung Pay will simplify the online transaction experience in the U.S. by taking away the need for users to fill out tedious online checkout forms, remember long passwords or fumble for their wallets.

Soon, users will be able to make in-app payments by choosing Samsung Pay as their payment option when they shop on select merchant apps. It’s really simple and easy to use. All you have to do is select Samsung Pay during checkout and choose from the cards on file to make an in-app payment. We already have some fantastic partners for our U.S. customers to try out this feature, including Velocity,  Raise, Fancy, Hello Vino, Wish, and Touch of Modern, and we will continue to add additional partners in the future.

All you have to do is select Samsung Pay during checkout and choose from the cards on file to make an in-app payment. We already have some fantastic partners for our U.S. customers to try out this feature, including Velocity, Raise, Fancy, Hello Vino, Wish and Touch of Modern, and we will continue to add additional partners in the future.

…And New Ways to Make Use of Them

To achieve our vision for mobile payments, we must constantly improve our solution to meet the evolving needs of our users. That’s why we’re expanding Samsung Pay onto other devices, including the Samsung Gear S3 with both NFC and MST technologies.

Bringing Samsung Pay to wearable devices opens mobile payments up to more people, while simultaneously making it more convenient to make payments.

These features bring us closer than ever to a true digital wallet, and I hope that you agree after trying them out!

Global Expansion and Building Upon our Partnership Ecosystem

Something we always look toward at Samsung is bringing Samsung Pay to as many users as we can worldwide.

In line with this, I’m thrilled to share that by the end of 2016, we will expand the service to three new markets: Malaysia, Thailand and Russia. This will bring Samsung Pay to 10 countries by the end of the year and expansion will only continue in the years to come.

Our growing partnership ecosystem provides an increasingly ubiquitous payment experience. With both Capital One and USAA on board in the United States, we now support from more than 500 banks and credit unions, representing over 85 percent of the U.S. debit and credit card market.

A Wonderful, Exciting Year

We have great ambitions for Samsung Pay, as a tool and a solution that shapes our future mindsets and how we make every day transactions.

So, to our customers and partners around the world, thank you for joining us on this journey. We’re excited for what’s to come.

Four members of the team behind Samsung Pay discuss the service’s first year achievements, as well as what we can expect from it in the near future.

Principal Designer Sunghan Kim (left) contributes to Samsung Pay as a UX designer. Senior Manager Jake Kim (middle) manages Samsung Pay’s roadmap and features, and Director Seunghan Dan (right) is in charge of local partner engagement and supports in the Asia Pacific region.

Q. What has been the general response to Samsung Pay since its initial launch?

Jake Kim: Over the past year, we’ve launched Samsung Pay in seven countries, and the response has been overwhelming. One of the most common remarks we hear from consumers is that they’re satisfied with the fact that they can leave their wallet at home, since Samsung Pay works almost anywhere.

A typical merchant’s first experience with Samsung Pay starts with denial. “Sorry, we don’t accept mobile payments.” Then it turns into disbelief. “Did it really work?” Which then leads to an enthusiastic “Wow!” when they realize Samsung Pay works on their legacy point-of-sale (POS) terminals without any additional steps in the transaction process.

Q. What were the challenges you experienced when launching Samsung Pay?

Seunghan Dan: Competition is very fierce in the current mobile wallet market. Our original equipment manufacturer (OEM) competitors aren’t the only ones out there; many issuing banks and even telecom operators are investing a lot to launch their own mobile wallets. Building strong partnerships will be key to staying ahead. We’re constantly coming up with proposals that could mutually benefit both parties.

Jake Kim: Expanding Samsung Pay hasn’t exactly been a “copy and paste” process. We’ve found that many factors influence the payment experience including the payment infrastructure, regulatory framework and user preferences, which can vary from one country to the next. Maintaining consistency while adapting to each market has been one of our biggest challenges.

Sunghan Kim: One of the challenges for the UX team was to come up with a way to make Samsung Pay an easier and faster method of offline payment than cash and credit cards—consumers’ typical methods of payment. We also wanted to create an outstanding digital wallet experience while making sure it would be safer and more convenient. The second challenge is an ongoing one—to ensure Samsung Pay maintains it simplicity as we continue to add more value-added features and functionality.

Q. Are there any moments that were particularly memorable during this whole process?

Sunghan Kim: When we started, we established a task force of UX designers from various services. We spent weeks creating various user experience solutions and ideas for the first version of Samsung Pay. While brainstorming, our entire work space was completely covered in design proposals. During this time, my team members and I were excited about introducing a totally new digital wallet experience, but also nervous about doing something that had never been done before.

Jin Lim: For me, the U.S. service launch was especially memorable. I remember the day before we went live with the service in the U.S. All our team members were running around like crazy while preparing to open the service right before midnight. I will never forget seeing the traffic surge on our monitoring dashboard and realizing that those were actual users coming into system.

Principle Engineer Jin Lim of the Service R&D team develops and operates Samsung Pay features, and aligns the service with partners’ systems.

Q. Which markets have been the quickest to adopt the service?

Jin Lim: I think that the Korean market has been the quickest to adopt, partially because Korea, like many other Asian countries, is especially open to experimenting with new technologies. Also, there was a large number of Korean issuers who wanted to participate in the Samsung Pay launch, which helped to ensure that users would have at least one card that could be enrolled in the service. As a result, we had explosive adoption and usage growth in the first three months, which in turn, eventually convinced other issuers to partner with Samsung Pay.

Seunghan Dan: Singapore, a country with one of the most advanced financial infrastructures in the region, has been very quick to adopt as well. Competition there is fierce. The good thing, though, is that most Singaporeans know about the digital wallet and how to use it. We see this as an opportunity to quickly expand our value-added services in Singapore.

Q. Are there any advantages to Samsung Pay that are a result of the company’s position as a hardware manufacturer?

Seunghan Dan: Sure. Thanks to our MST technology, Samsung Pay is the only mobile wallet that can be accepted almost everywhere, whether the PoS terminal is contactless or not.

Jin Lim: Security is also another advantage. Samsung Knox and biometric authentication at the hardware level such as fingerprint and iris scanning really sets us apart from a competitive standpoint.

Sunghan Kim: The Samsung Pay UX team wanted to make the device itself (rather than an app) a digital wallet so the user could launch the service immediately. Collaboration with the device UX team made this possible. As a result, Samsung Pay can be launched with a single swipe-up action from the home button even while in sleep mode. It provides convenience to users and also gives Samsung Pay a competitive edge when it comes to usability.

Q. What can we expect from Samsung Pay in the near future?

Jin Lim: From an engineering standpoint, we are continuously working to improve Samsung Pay’s infrastructure architecture to increase service availability from 99.9 percent to 99.99 percent. We’re doing this by implementing a data center model which enables our service to be more reliable.

Jake Kim: We need to build on the momentum we’ve created and continue to build up more added value services such as membership, loyalty and transportation cards to achieve a more complete digital wallet experience. We’re also going to focus on online payment services and partnerships, as more and more customers are now shopping online.

Samsung Pay will be available starting today on compatible Samsung smartphones including the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, with specific availability varying by local operator².

“Today’s launch of Samsung Pay offers more than a secure and convenient way for Samsung smartphone owners to pay,” said Prasad Gokhale, Vice President, Mobile Division, Samsung Australia. “It’s the next development for Australians who use their smartphone as the central device to live, organise and enjoy their lives.

“Australia is a market of early technology adopters and by providing a platform open to all partners, ranging from government to financial institutions and retailers, while upholding the highest standards of security and data privacy, Samsung is fueling the transition to a truly digital wallet.”

The arrival of Samsung Pay in Australia follows successful launches in South Korea, the United States, China and Spain.

“In the first six months of launching in Korea and the U.S., Samsung Pay has surpassed more than 5 million registered users and today has processed more than US$1billion of transactions in South Korea alone,” said Elle Kim, Global Vice President, Samsung Pay, Mobile Communications Business. “This success indicates a tremendous opportunity in Australia, a market where contactless payments are already in strong demand.”

Strong Partnerships to Benefit Consumers and Businesses

At launch, Samsung Pay partners in Australia will be American Express and Citibank.

Citibank credit card cardholders as well as American Express Issued Card Members will be able to use Samsung Pay, with a compatible Samsung smartphone, at participating retailers.

Vice President Payment Consulting Group, American Express JAPA, Nick Alexander, said: “Samsung Pay provides our American Express Issued Card Members another way to pay using the latest in smartphone payment technology, and speeds up the payment process for merchants. American Express is not only striving to be where our customers are, but are also looking for more ways to integrate rewards and loyalty into the payment experience, so that when our customers use their phones to pay, they are earning rewards as well.”

Citi Global Consumer Bank, Australia, Managing Director of Cards and Consumer Lending, Alan Machet said: “The strong partnership between Citibank and Samsung Pay will see both parties collaborate to bring services to our globally-minded customers. Citi credit card customers can now simply and securely use Samsung mobile phones to tap and pay for purchases in Australia and overseas.”

“Samsung Pay is strategically expanding its partnership ecosystem to provide greater flexibility, access and choice for our customers,” said Kim.

“Samsung Pay adopts an open engagement model, designed to support payment and non-payment cards from multiple providers. By doing this, Samsung can operate seamlessly with a wide range of partners, systems and payment channels,” Kim added.

More Than Money

Outside of payments, Samsung Pay has the potential to be integrated with an array of partners, ranging from major retailers to government departments and ticketing companies.

Partner integration is even simpler with Samsung Pay because the technology utilizes Near Field Communication (NFC) and Samsung’s proprietary technology called Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST), making it the only payment solution with wider acceptance.

“The MST technology enables Samsung Pay to support partners that use a traditional magnetic stripe, commonly found on loyalty cards, gift cards and transit cards, both in Australia and across the globe,” Kim said.

“It’s our goal to one day replace wallets, by making every card accessible on Samsung smartphones. In countries like Australia, where customers are already using their smartphones to make payments, our customers will certainly value the benefits of having all their cards in one place and Samsung Pay will provide that convenience to them,” Kim concluded.

Safe and Secure

Samsung Pay includes three levels of security to help enable secure payments – fingerprint authentication, tokenisation and Samsung KNOX.

Each transaction uses an encrypted digital token to replace a user’s personal payment information and payments can only be authorised with an approved fingerprint or PIN. Samsung’s industry-leading KNOX security platform also monitors malicious software and activities on a user’s device for added security and protection.

Easy-to-Use Application

To make a payment on Samsung Pay, simply swipe up, choose the desired payment card, authenticate the transaction with the fingerprint sensor and tap the device on the point of sale terminal.

Samsung Pay can be used in an offline mode, should customers be located in areas without internet connectivity³.

1 Availability almost anywhere is based on compatibility of Samsung Pay on MST and/or NFC payment terminals, with some supported for use only after software upgrades. Samsung Pay will be available soon for Galaxy S6 and S6 edge on the Telstra network. Samsung Pay is exclusive to selected Samsung Galaxy smartphones only, and available across all participating payment networks, banks, and merchants. Availability may vary, please check for updates.

2 Samsung Pay is available to these smartphones with the Marshmallow software update. Availability of this update to specific devices is dependent on individual operators. Samsung Pay will be available soon for Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge and Galaxy Note 5 on the Telstra network.  Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge do not support MST.

3 Internet access is required occasionally to download new tokens (as defined by card schemes). Limits to offline transactions are dependent on each card scheme.

Samsung Electronics announced today that Samsung Pay, the most widely accepted mobile payment system, will soon support eligible credit and debit cards from TD Bank and Regions Bank, in addition to 60 Visa and MasterCard banks and credit unions launched since early March 2016.

With the addition of these banks, Samsung Pay continues to grow momentum in the United States—supporting eligible credit and debit cards from more than 130 banks and credit unions, representing over 75% of the US credit and debit card market.

Samsung Pay supports all major payment networks and many of the country’s major banks, and it continues to expand its partnership ecosystem. Click here for the full list of financial partners that support Samsung Pay.

• SIMPLE: To make a payment on Samsung Pay, users can simply swipe up, scan their fingerprint and pay.
• SAFE: Samsung Pay uses tokenization, Samsung KNOX, and fingerprint authentication to provide secure payments. And, as terminals are upgraded to EMV, that security is leveraged, too.
• ALMOST ANYWHERE: Samsung Pay is compatible with the majority of existing and new terminals, including most magnetic stripe, EMV and NFC terminals^*. That means Samsung Pay works at more places than any other mobile payment service.

Samsung Electronics announced Samsung Pay U.S. consumer usage data, new features, and partnerships at Money 20/20 in Las Vegas, adding more momentum to the most accepted mobile payment system.

Just four weeks after its launch in the U.S., Samsung Pay is proving its biggest advantage is broad acceptance enabled by Samsung’s MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission) in combination with NFC. MST is the patented technology built into the Samsung Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+ and Galaxy Note5 that transmits tokenized card data to the magnetic card readers of EMV terminals and magnetic stripe terminals. Of U.S. consumers who have paid with Samsung Pay, there is strong indication of repeat usage with an average of eight transactions per user. Data also show that three out of four Samsung Pay transactions were made via MST, validating that combining MST and NFC makes Samsung Pay the most accepted mobile payment system.

“After one month, the numbers say it all: Consumers who have used Samsung Pay are using it repeatedly because it works almost anywhere you can swipe or tap a card,” said Thomas Ko, Vive President and Global Co-general Manager of Samsung Pay. “We’re thrilled to introduce new partners that will build on our early success, and move us even closer to a world in which your mobile phone is a true mobile wallet.”

Samsung is expanding the partnership ecosystem for Samsung Pay, announcing support in the coming months for cards issued by Chase, PNC Bank, TD Bank, SunTrust, Fifth Third Bank, Key Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, Security Service Federal Credit Union, Navy Federal Credit Union, Virginia Credit Union, Associated Bank, Randolph Brooks Federal Credit Union and People’s United Bank. Starting next year, Samsung Pay will work with Discover.

Samsung Pay is also deepening relationships between consumers and retailers—enabling shoppers to use gift cards on their phones at their favorite stores, through a partnership with Blackhawk Network that includes dozens of top retailers in categories like grocery, fashion, entertainment and dining. By the end of this year, consumers will be able to load and use these gift cards.

Samsung is now working with the four payment networks: American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa, major banks including Bank of America, Chase, Citi, U.S. Bank, and key financial partners including Blackhawk Network, First Data, Synchrony Financial, TSYS, and Vantiv to extend Samsung Pay to the U.S.

The overwhelmingly positive initial response to Samsung Pay underscores its revolutionary appeal to consumers.

• SIMPLE: To make a payment on Samsung Pay, users can simply swipe up, scan their fingerprint and pay.

• SAFE: Samsung Pay uses tokenization, Samsung KNOX, and fingerprint authentication to provide secure payments. And, as terminals are upgraded to EMV, that security is leveraged too.

• ALMOST ANYWHERE: Samsung Pay is compatible with most existing and new terminals, including most magnetic stripe, EMV and NFC terminals^*. That means Samsung Pay works at more places than any other mobile payment service.

How many credit cards do you carry in your wallet? How often do you use each of them? Commerce has come a long way and the forms of “money” have evolved. The credit card has played an important role for people to shop more convenience and safer over recent years, however, it can be replaced to new payment service in the near future. Mobile payment is a burgeoning phenomenon in the world of retail and commerce.

At the moment, mobile payment systems fall into two categories. One method is based on near field communication (NFC) technology. The other relies on magnetic secure transmission (MST) technology, which sends the payment card information to a magnetic card reader wirelessly, using magnetic signals.

NFC is the most widely used payment system, however, it has a critical shortcoming—fewer than 3 percent of retail shops in the world have the NFC readers needed to support it. Despite the technology applying NFC for payment systems being a decade old, retailers have been slow to purchase and install NFC readers, even in Europe, where NFC cards and IC cards are more widely available. Without a doubt, its acceptance will spread, but the pace appears to be somewhat slow.

On the other hand, most retail shops already have magnetic card readers, which are compatible with MST technology. So a mobile payment system that supports both NFC and MST would have the widest level of acceptance—and the only such service is Samsung Pay.

Technology always takes time to be accepted. For example, HD TVs have been around for more than a decade, but there are still a lot of people who watch in standard resolution. As an engineer, I believe we need to follow the lead of our customers. We cannot force people to accept new technologies before they’re ready. Instead, we need to help ease that change naturally.

The Key Is Convenience

Nowadays, we can find WiFi everywhere. But how many people understand how Wi-Fi works, or know the various standards? Most do not. What people care about is being able to access their email easily and safely. The important thing for consumers is convenience.

Recently, one company released an application that shows users where they can use mobile payment services. In my opinion, that gets things totally backward it is a complete flop. People use mobile payment services where they shop; they do not go shopping to where they can use mobile payment services. Convenience drives consumer acceptance, not the technology.

With this philosophy in mind from the beginning, Samsung Electronics applied MST technology to mobile payments together with NFC. I think debating which technology is better, NFC or MST, is pointless. What is essential is making mobile payment convenient for consumers, so they can pay for things without thinking about the technology. If consumers cannot use a mobile payment service in most shops, they will not use it nor accept it. Embracing a technology means being able to use it easily, anytime, anywhere.

I have not used a plastic credit card in over a month. It’s so easy to pay for anything wherever I go, I don’t even worry about my credit cards anymore. I know I do not need them. Even if something did go wrong, finding a solution would just lead to better service, which is essential for mobile payments being accepted.

Comparing MST and NFC Today

The global average NFC penetration rate stands at 15 percent. Here is Korea, it is less than 2 percent. But because MST has a success rate of more than 80 percent, it is essential for today’s consumers.

In the years to come, the number of transactions using NFC will grow steadily, but MST is going to continue to be significant in retail. Even after the percentage of shops using only MST drops to a small number, we cannot just ignore them. The right approach is to support both systems.

Having conducted thousands of tests around the world, I am sure that Samsung Pay will be a success. It is a product that can change the market and provides real benefits to users. No, it isn’t perfect, but it works so often that I haven’t been tempted to return to my credit cards. Most people have the same thinking—they are not going to use mobile payments just for the novelty, but only if they are convenient.

Information Safe and Secure Through Tokenization

To ensure people’s security and privacy, mobile payments on Samsung Pay do not pass along actual credit card information. Instead, they use something called “tokenization.” Using a token means people’s information is encrypted using our propriety technology and kept secure. Even if a transaction was intercepted, all the personal information would be protected.

Another benefit of using tokens is that it allows us to use the existing payment infrastructure that was developed for plastic credit cards. A token service provider (TSP) server performs the exchange between a token and the actual credit card number, so credit card issuers and merchants can just use their existing systems.

Samsung Pay Will Transform the Future of Mobile Payments

Mobile payments can handle the functions of physical credit cards, but as they grow and develop, many predict they will bring deeper changes to banking, money and society. Mobile payments are more flexible than cards and can do more. In Korea, Samsung Pay enables you to withdraw cash from ATMs, allowing the service to also replace debit cards. They are always “on” and can also interact with the phone, offering credit card issuers new opportunities to connect with users and create additional services.

This is the start of a real paradigm shift—but it all depends on people embracing mobile payment services. That is why I want to emphasize that convenience and ubiquity are at the core of technological acceptance. The arrival of new payment services is not far off and I believe that Samsung Pay will play a leading role in these exciting changes. And the root of all this is Samsung’s dedication to placing the needs of consumers first, so change can come naturally and conveniently.