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 China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and the U.K.
- Loyalty and membership cards in 20 markets, including Canada, France, Mexico and Sweden
- ATM transactions in 5 markets including Russia, South Korea, 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 Alipay (China), WeChat Pay (China), BHIM UPI (India), PAYCO (South Korea), 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.
1Samsung Pay is available in six continents: North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania.
2Samsung Pay is available in 24 markets, including South Korea, U.S., China, Spain, Singapore, Australia, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Sweden, UAE, Taiwan, Switzerland, Hong Kong, U.K., Vietnam, Mexico, Italy, Canada and South Africa. Preliminary access is also currently available in France.
3Service functionality and device compatibility may vary by market and conditions.
