From handwritten IOU’s to cheques to credit cards, our civilisation’s payment technologies are on a very clear progression. They are becoming more widespread, getting simpler to use, and more importantly, always more secure. Samsung Pay is the next step in this evolution.
Security has been built into every step of Samsung Pay. Rather than sharing your details with the store’s credit card reader every time you make a payment, the Samsung Pay contactless payment system instead sends along an encrypted digital token. Your Samsung Pay purchase isn’t vulnerable to anyone accessing the information within the terminal.
The information on your phone is just as safe, tucked away safely behind a fingerprint scan or PIN input. You can only make a payment if you have the right fingerprint or PIN — meaning a lost or stolen phone can’t be used by anyone else, and your money and account details are always safe. And if your phone does go missing, Samsung Pay can be deactivated remotely with Samsung’s “Find My Mobile” service.
Despite all these protections, Samsung Pay is perfectly simple to use. Activate the app from your home screen (Samsung Pay is installed with the latest Marshmallow software update), link your compatible credit cards with a straightforward three-step process, and you’re good to go. Just swipe up from your Samsung smartphone’s lock screen to view all your attached credit cards, and then you can authenticate with your fingerprint or 4 digit PIN, then tap your phone against a payment reader.
There are even multiple ways to pay, if you find yourself in a store without a NFC payment terminal. On compatible Samsung smartphones, there’s the contactless NFC* function, which works just like any contactless payment, except protected by your PIN or fingerprint.
And MST is supported on the Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S7 and S7 edge and future Samsung smartphones. MST emits a magnetic signal to emulate the magnetic strip on your credit cards, meaning you can use Samsung Pay even in countries or stores that don’t support NFC.
As a result, Samsung Pay is accepted virtually anywhere. In fact, Samsung Pay can be used in more stores than any other mobile payment service.
Samsung Pay has launched in Australia this month, and with big players like American Express and Citi already on board, there’s nothing stopping us getting started right now.
*NFC compatible devices include Samsung Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge
~MST compatible devices include Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, also compatible with NFC