For a while, Verizon was looking oddly resistant to bringing Samsung Pay on board as part of its standard operations.
This was regarded as a rather bizarre move, but at the same time, some wondered if there wasn’t something greater afoot. But now, the speculation seems to be out of the way, and Verizon has now agreed to bring in Samsung Pay.
Recent reports noted that Verizon would start supporting Samsung Pay with an “upcoming software update” that would bring the popular payment platform to the carrier. While Verizon never permanently ruled out Samsung Pay, reports note, it was an unexpected holdout as several of Verizon’s competitors in the field-Sprint, U.S. Cellular and AT&T tops among them-had okayed the system for use, in some cases, months prior. Verizon itself, meanwhile, noted that it wanted to take some time to launch the product alongside other new product announcements and some new payment alliances.
With several payment companies likewise chiming in support for Samsung Pay-including Chase, Bank of America, and four major credit card companies (American Express, Discover, and the big two of Visa and MasterCard) in on the action-it was surprising to not see Verizon in on the action quickly. But then, considering that Verizon had a rather tumultuous history with mobile payments by some reports, maybe it’s not so surprising that Verizon would be a bit gun-shy.
After all, the company not only disabled near-field communications on its devices, but it also kept Google Wallet to the rear. Moreover, the company even had its own mobile payments system, a mobile wallet known as Isis that was promptly renamed Softcard not long after a terrorist organization with the same name cropped up, and then eventually discontinued.
Essentially, from the outside looking in, it looks like Verizon has finally simply buckled. It’s clear that most of Verizon’s competition was ready to go, and Samsung Pay had plenty of backers going in. Why would Verizon reasonably want to be the standout for not having such a service? That’s not a competitive edge; that’s handing over a competitive edge to everyone else.
It could have been that Verizon was holding out a bit, figuring that the fact that it said no where everyone else said yes would have been a newsworthy point, gaining it a few extra news cycles, but that’s a strictly speculative point. However, it does seem to have worked; a lot of places are talking about Verizon’s refusal of Samsung Pay, and now, they’re talking about it again.
Whether it was a genuine concern about the nature and effectiveness of a new product line, or a desire to make the calendar work more to Verizon’s liking, the point remains that Verizon will be joining in the trend and bringing Samsung Pay into its fold.
This is good news for Verizon, who will no longer be behind the eight-ball of a wide array of competitors offering a service it can’t or won’t, and great news for Samsung, whose new service will have access to the huge array of users that Verizon counts to its credit.
