Samsung unveiled its Samsung Pay mobile payment platform back at Mobile World Congress. Expected to compete against Apple Pay, it is already supported on both the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge despite not having launched yet. That may change soon. On the conference call that followed its latest financial results, Samsung Electronics’ Managing Director Park Jin-young said that the company is looking to launch its mobile payment service in South Korea and the U.S. in the second half of the year.
Samsung is also already thinking of further global expansion but did not provide specific details. “The consecutive release schedule to the rest of the other countries following Korea and the US in the second half of the year is still under discussion.”
Park also hinted at compatibility with smartwatches. He would only say that Samsung will reveal its plans “during the launch.” The oft-rumoured Samsung Gear A could well be Samsung’s first smartwatch to support Apple Pay.
Samsung Pay will use both Near Field Communication (NFC) and a new proprietary technology called Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST). The latter, developed by LoopPay, will significantly increase compatibility with older point-of-sale systems and give Samsung an edge over Apple Pay which does not offer this compatibility.
Sources : WhoWired // G for Games