(15 June 2016 – Australia) Samsung Pay is now available in Australia, compatible with the technology giant’s smartphones including the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Note 5.
However, the mobile payment service is currently limited to launch partners American Express and Citibank. If customers have American Express-issued cards or a Citibank Mastercard or Visa card, they can use the service immediately.
Samsung has entered the local market some eight months after its competitor Apple Pay, who now also has ANZ Bank as a partner.
According to reports, other Australian banks are reluctant to tie in with Apple as they would be required to share a portion of interchange fees with the phone manufacturer.
Prasad Gokhale, vice president at Samsung Australia said it has no plans to charge for Samsung Pay transactions. “We're here to compliment the banks,” he said.
“We don't charge any interconnect fees or 'clip,' as they call it, and we don't retain data.”
“The core position of Samsung is, we want to get more and more Australians to join our ecosystem,” he added. “I don't think the banks or any other people look at us as competitors.”
Samsung has already launched in South Korea, where it is headquartered, the US, China and Spain. Singapore will also be launching this week, followed by the UK, Canada, and Brazil.
Samsung Pay’s global Vice President, Elle Kim, said within six months of launching in South Korea and the US, Samsung Pay has exceeded 5 million registered users and processed over US$1billion (A$1.35 billion) of transactions in South Korea alone.
“It’s our goal to one day replace wallets, by making every card accessible on Samsung smartphones. In countries like Australia, where customers are already using their smartphones to make payments, our customers will certainly value the benefits of having all their cards in one place and Samsung Pay will provide that convenience to them,” she said.
“Samsung Pay adopts an open engagement model, designed to support payment and non-payment cards from multiple providers. By doing this, Samsung can operate seamlessly with a wide range of partners, systems, and payment channels.”