On Tuesday, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. celebrated the third anniversary of its mobile payment platform, Samsung Pay. According to the electronics giant, Samsung Pay, which was launched in August 2015, has experienced major growth and is now available on 6 continents and 24 markets, this includes the latest market, South Africa. The mobile app also just recently passed more than 1.3 billion transactions globally.
The Samsung Pay mobile app is described as simple, safe, and available almost anywhere the user swipes or taps their card. Samsung explained that by combining Near Field Communication (NFC) with the Samsung proprietary Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technologies, the app provides consumers as a way to pay at millions of merchant locations.
Samsung also reported that the app offers value-added services based on local market needs, which includes the following:
- Online payments, now available in 15 markets, such as Australia, Brazil, Switzerland, and Taiwan
- Transit cards in five markets, which includes 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 five markets including Russia, South Korea, UAE, U.S., and Vietnam
- Samsung Rewards, which offers 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 analyzing their consumption pattern in South Korea and the UAE
- Bixby integration, allowing users to make purchases at popular merchants with one request
Speaking about the mobile app’s growth over the past three years, DJ Koh, President and CEO of IT & Mobile Communications Division, Samsung Electronics, stated since he and his team launched Samsung Pay, they have been dedicated to delivering a mobile wallet platform that is simple, secure and works almost anywhere. He then added:
We have been expanding its availability and forming strategic partnerships in each market to meet the unique needs of their users. 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.”
As part of the anniversary celebration, Samsung released an infographic of Samsung Pay’s growth and development over the past three years.
