Samsung Pay UK release date: When is Samsung Pay coming to the UK?
The UK is still waiting for Samsung Pay to arrive, and with the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Pluslaunch expected later this month there is fresh hope for the mobile payments service and Android Pay rival.
However, while we’re still waiting for Samsung Pay to come to the UK at all, let alone to the flagships in Samsung’s line-up, the company is now reportedly planning to roll out the service to other phones lower down its range. See also: LG Pay.
This previously might have been problematic, due to the need for a fingerprint scanner to authorise payments, but apparently now all you will need is a PIN. This will allow the company to get a foothold in developing countries, where budget and mid-range phones are more common.
According to Mashable Samsung is trialling the service first in India, where it is currently
making negotiations with payment providers. If it is successful, it will likely be adopted on a global scale.
Contents
What is Samsung Pay?
Samsung Pay is a mobile payments service that allows secure mobile payments to be made at participating shops and points of sale.
It was originally thought to be useful only for Samsung devices, however the company evidently had hoped to also take on competitors including Apple Pay and Android Pay. According to MacRumors the Samsung Pay Mini app has just been rejected from Apple’s App Store (no great surprise), but the company is still planning an Android launch for the app, which is expected to feature the Bixby AI assistant and come alongside the Galaxy S8, possibly in February at MWC or at a separate Unpacked event in March.
Samsung Pay combines NFC and a new MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission) technology to allow you to make payments using your Samsung Galaxy smartphone (for instance the new Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge), smartwatch or tablet. Samsung has already partnered with Visa and Mastercard on the project, and is working to get major banks involved.
The introduction of MST makes Samsung Pay a universal solution that is compatible whether the checkout terminal supports NFC or the traditional magstripe found on debit- and credit cards. Samsung says this means the payment service could be accepted at 30 million merchant locations worldwide.
It says it takes only a few steps to add a card to your Samsung Pay account, and using your phone to pay for goods and services is then simple, fast and secure – more secure than carrying a credit card in any case, with no account numbers held on the device and all sensitive data replaced with unique tokens. Payment security is also provided by Samsung Knox and ARM TrustZone, which work together to prevent fraud and data theft.
“Samsung Pay will reinvent how people pay for goods and services and transform how they use their smartphones. The secure and simple payment process, coupled with our robust partner network, makes Samsung Pay a truly game-changing service that will bring value to consumers and our partners in the ecosystem,” said JK Shin, CEO and head of IT & mobile communications at Samsung. Also see: Best Samsung phones 2016: What is the difference between Galaxy Note, Galaxy S, Galaxy A and Galaxy J?
When is the Samsung Pay UK release date?
Samsung Pay UK release date: 28 April 2017 (TBC)
Samsung Pay has been available in the US since September 2015, but we’re still waiting for it to come to the UK. During February’s Unpacked 2016 event in which it launched the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, Samsung confirmed that it would come to the UK some time in 2016, but didn’t give an exact timeline.
We’re now in March 2017 and there’s still no sign of the service, with Samsung Pay apparently held up by ongoing negotiations between Samsung and UK banks. It is now tipped to launch alongside the Samsung Pay Mini app with the Galaxy S8 launch, itself the subject of much debate.
The Galaxy S8 will be unveiled in an Unpacked event on 29 March 2017, and the latest reports suggest it will go on sale 28 April. Either of these two dates is when we could see Samsung Pay announced for the UK.
A promising sign that Samsung Pay is almost ready for its UK launch comes from PC Advisor reader Angus Leckey, who has had the Samsung Pay app installed on his imported Galaxy Note 5 since June 2016 but only recently has it accepted his UK Nationwide credit- and debit cards. Angus says he has tried to make a payment via MST but it was declined.
We’ll update this article as soon as more information is available.
Follow Marie Brewis on Twitter.
[“Source-pcadvisor”]
