Samsung Pay May be Readying Peer-to-Peer Capability

Mobile payments are a great mechanism for making purchases at stores, and many of the uses of this technology are seen there.

From cars that can cover the bill at the drive-thru window to smartphones that can settle the debt at a clothier of choice, most of mobile payments is payments-for-goods related. Mobile payments haven’t been so active in the simplest transactions, however; those quick transactions among friends aren’t often expressed in mobile payments.

That’s changing, though, and Samsung Pay may be the next to make that change.

The new reports suggest that Samsung Pay is out to add a peer-to-peer option to its service, allowing it to perform those simple transactions that are part of everyday life.

From the “here’s my share of lunch” transactions to the “loan me a quarter for the vending machine” transactions, a peer-to-peer option allows for the smaller, informal transactions between individuals.

So what would it take to work? A special module would be needed for the smartphone, and already, a patent application has been filed for a particular technology that could run Samsung Pay payments through an app and conduct them as normal.

This essentially means any smartphone capable of running Samsung Pay could be a mobile payment terminal by itself, and third-party networks would no longer be necessary parts of the system. With Samsung Pay able to operate most anywhere, it increases the likelihood that it would be adopted by smaller merchants, making it easier for said merchants to take credit card payments directly.

If Samsung Pay can suddenly force itself to the front of line for the ultra-small business crowd—which is likely still reeling over the Europay, MasterCard, Visa (EMV) card shift—it stands to gain a very big advantage over its biggest competitors in the field, Apple Pay and Android Pay. It would gain access to a very big market made up of hordes of small business firms, and it would also move to corner the market in casual users.

Of course, it’s an edge that might be lost quickly—Apple Pay has something of an advantage here in that it’s the only payment system that really works on its platform—but unless development were almost concurrent, Samsung Pay would end up with the advantage in sheer inertia.

Once people start using Samsung Pay in large numbers, they likely wouldn’t jump ship to any of its major competitors unless there were a compelling reason to do so, and merely matching Samsung’s efforts wouldn’t be sufficiently compelling.

Could this development give Samsung Pay the market? Possibly. Samsung will have to move quickly to ensure it can put peer-to-peer into play ahead of the rest of the field, and get it on the field long enough for inertia to take hold. But once it steps out in front, it’s likely to stay there, and Samsung may have developed just the advantage it needed.