Samsung Pay Expands to Online Purchases and Other Devices

December 30, 2023         By: Michael Cheng

Samsung Pay might finally be ready to accommodate more users in 2016.

The group announced that its mobile payments service, Samsung Pay, will cater to more smartphones “within the next year.” Samsung Pay Global Co-General Manager Thomas Ko confirmed the timeline during an interview with Reuters.

Specifically, the payments system will be pushed out to lower-end Samsung units. Ko did not elaborate on the possibility of Samsung Pay hitting smartphones outside of the tech brand. At the moment the service works on the following devices: Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge Plus.

With the accommodation of more smartphones, the establishment hopes to win over regions where Apple Pay and Android Pay are widely utilized.

Using LoopPay technology, merchants could easily facilitate wireless transactions on the service, without an NFC-enabled POS terminal. Samsung Pay also works with NFC terminals, but only on four official devices.

In the past months, the group has welcomed several new partners, including the following financial institutions: Chase, PNC Bank, TD Bank, SunTrust, Fifth Third Bank, Key Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, Security Service Federal Credit Union, Navy Federal Credit Union.

Support for Discover is also on the way, possibly starting next year.

In addition to loosening its grip on handset availability for the mobile app, the company also plans to include online payment support. Letting users make web-based purchases on the platform allows the group to compete directly with PayPal.

To successfully compete in the space, Samsung would have to convince online stores to offer the payments option on their website.

“For Samsung, moving online could be a smart move,” said James Wester, research director, global payments, at IDC Financial Insights. “It will help them build customer habit and they can benefit from that when U.S. consumers transact in stores.”