Earlier today, Samsung held a press event to announce the local availability of Samsung Pay.
The event was held at the Galaxy Studio situated at Ngee Ann Civic Plaza since the 3rd of June, and visitors to the Studio are in for a treat with the many showcases and experience booths that they can experience first hand.
A major theme for all the showcases is the use of the Samsung Gear VR headset.
Visitors will be able to use the Gear VR in a variety of scenarios and experience different virtual environments. These include a motorcycle ride, in partnership with Harley-Davidson; a roller-coaster ride, courtesy of Six Flags; and more sports-orientated themes such as cycling and surfing.
Well, enough about the studio, let’s move on to the star of the show.
Samsung Pay Arrives
16th June – save the date.
If you have a compatible Samsung Galaxy device, Galaxy Note 5 4G+, S6 edge+ 4G+, S7 4G+ and S7 edge 4G+, you will be able to utilise this feature from the coming Thursday.
During the media preview, Samsung continuously highlighted three reasons why anyone and everyone should use Samsung Pay. It is Simple to use, Safe when making payments due to the various security measures, and is accepted almost Anywhere.
During the media preview, we were also introduced to the banks that have partnered with Samsung to ensure that Samsung Pay is in the hands of as many Singaporeans as possible. These banks include, DBS, POSB, OCBC, Citibank, and Standard Chartered. American Express will be joining the party at a later date.
Recognising Singapore as an important market due to the available infrastructure, and also where Galaxy phones are one of the top choices by consumers, it is no wonder that we are the fifth in the world to start using Samsung Pay.
Simple, Safe, Almost Anywhere
Why have this feature baked into a smartphone if it is not simple to use everyday?
Convenience is key, and Samsung has definitely ensured that anyone using Samsung Pay will be able to do so almost effortlessly, like a habit cultivated from young.
However, simplicity doesn’t mean that security is compromised.
With the various layers of security setups when you make payment, you can be sure that none of your sensitive information is revealed during any transaction.
As mentioned earlier, you will technically be able to use Samsung Pay at almost any existing payment terminals, due to Samsung incorporating the use of both Near Field Communication (NFC) and Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) into Samsung Pay compatible phones.
Straightaway at launch, Galaxy users can expect to immediately use the service across a variety of stores.
As long as merchants accept MasterCard or Visa as payment options, consumers need not specifically go to stores that has the updated to the contactless payment terminals in order to make full use of Samsung Pay.
For more information on these three aspects of Samsung Pay, check out our previous article here.
Where Can You Use it?
Samsung is intending to make good of its promise to make Samsung Pay accessible in as many places as possible. This includes supermarkets and convenience stores, departmental stores, healthcare and beauty outlets, food and beverage outlets, fashion and lifestyle outlets, electronics and furnishing stores, and travel and entertainment services.
Samsung has also announced 40 preferred merchants whom have integrated Samsung Pay into their stores, and will be ready to receive contactless payments from customers via Samsung phones come June 16.
In the 40, there are several stores of which I’m sure people go to daily, so you need not go out of your way just to try the feature.
Now that Samsung Pay has entered the mobile payments arena with Apple Pay, things are about to heat up. It will be a race of who will have more merchants, and the benefactor will be the consumers.
Need to re-contract your mobile plans sometime soon? Maybe it is time you pick a side.