July 19, Sunday-looks like Samsung is ready to introduce its own mobile payments platform, and Apple Pay's competitor. The company is reported to have begun conducting trials in South Korea, where it was established. The mobile paying platform has generated interest not only in Samsung's native Korea, but also around the world.
Samsung has made it known a few months back that it will be making a payment service via mobile, with fingerprint technology. The company has partnered with KG Mobilians and KG Inicis to develop its new service, which is reported to have its US launch in September. No release date has been specified for other countries.
According to Biometric Update, Samsung Pay works with near field communication (NFC) technology. It also works with card readers equipped with magnetic secure transmission (MST) technology. The new service is the first of its kind to function for both kinds, giving Samsung a higher level of compatibility for devices. This gives serious competition for the recently-launched Apple Pay.
"When it is time to pay, just launch the app, hold your Samsung device near the credit card terminal and authorize it with the touch of your finger," said the company in its official blog.
The app does not store and give out the user's credit card number in the device during transactions. Data is encrypted, generating "tokens", which are then linked to the users' cards by the bank of their choice. To review transactions, users tap credit cards to look at the payments they have made in the Samsung Pay app. Payments cannot be completed without the users' fingerprints and PIN numbers.
Samsung Pay seems to have an edge among its competitors. Android Pay has also been launched recently. How it will fare among the mobile payment service market will still have to be determined after it has been officially launched. For now, it's suffice to say that the app has a lot to offer.
