Close on the heels of Apple Pay, Samsung has introduced its mobile payment service, Samsung Pay, in china. the Korean company has been teasing the entrance of Samsung Pay into china for a long time and that day has finally arrived.
For this purpose, Samsung had to collaborate with state-backed China UnionPay to introduce the service. UnionPay is the association that controls all credit card based financial transactions in china. This association also collaborated with Apple to introduce Apple Pay in china the previous month.
“We are pleased to be partnering with CUP to bring Samsung Pay to China,” said Injong Rhee, EVP and Head of R&D, Software and Services of Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics. “The reception of Samsung Pay since its launch has been extremely positive and the service has already seen tremendous success in terms of availability and adoption by consumers. In compliance with national laws and regulations, thanks to cooperating with CUP and many banks, we ultimately want to make Samsung Pay available to as many consumers as possible in china so that everyone can have the opportunity to enjoy the simplicity, safety and convenience of this mobile payment solution.”
Samsung Pay has been available in united states, south Korea and certain other regions and it was also announced that about $500 million worth financial transactions have taken place via Samsung Pay. The Galaxy maker is also in talk with other banks to make the service available for everyone and also in as many regions as possible.
Samsung Pay is only compatible with phones such as S6 family, S7 family, Note 5 and certain phone in Galaxy A-series and works on any normal credit card swiping machine, unlike Apple Pay that works only on a special NFC-based terminal.
China represents a huge opportunity for Samsung and Apple. about $2.5 trillion worth payments have been made in 2015 alone and everyone want a piece of the pie.
After china, Samsung is releasing the payment service in Australia, Brazil, Spain, Singapore, and the United Kingdom later in the year.
