With the addition of Verizon Wireless, Samsung’s newly launched mobile payment application will be supported by all four major domestic carriers. The feature went live in North America last week. This is Samsung’s answer to rival services like Apple Pay and Android Pay.
Since the August South Korea launch, company officials said it has recorded more than $30 million in volume across 1.5 million transactions; 10% of active users recorded daily transactions on Samsung Pay.
Following the U.S. launch, Samsung Pay is scheduled to go into service next in the U.K., Spain and China. The service is currently available on the Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+ and Note 5 smartphones.
On the financial side, the application works with American Express, Visa or MasterCard tied to accounts at Bank of America, Citi or U.S. Bank, which is a smaller list of card/bank combos than those offered by Apple Pay and Android Pay.
“Although the details on Samsung Pay usage are constantly being updated, the response we’ve received so far has been beyond our expectations,” said Injong Rhee, EVP of Samsung Electronics and global head of Samsung Pay, of the response in South Korea. “We knew Samsung Pay would be a game-changer in the mobile payments industry, and now with the user data we are seeing the greater impact it is having on consumer behavior and on the lifestyle of our customers.”
As far as operation of Samsung Pay, once it’s set up, a user makes a payment by swiping up to launch Samsung Pay, provides fingerprint-based verification, then hovers the smartphone over the card reader.
Samsung hosted a star-studded launch party in Austin, Texas, last week that featured performances from Fitz and the Tantrums, Run the Jewels and A$AP Rocky.
