Samsung Pay goes live in USA with new biometric features

Where things are better though, is Samsung also is backwards compatible with magnetic-strip based payments terminals, which use MST (Magnetic Source Transmission) which is what almost every machine uses to accept credit and debit cards. Finextra reports that it has the support of Visa, MasterCard and American Express, as well as Citi, Bank of America and US Bank.

But it’s difficult the gauge the performance based on its first month just yet, as Android Pay is way new to issue similar data and apple strictly guards such statistics. Samsung Pay, the OEM’s answer to Apple Pay and Android Pay, is now finally available in the US.

Using a Note5 or Edge6 phone, all a user has to do to conduct a transaction is the following: swipe up on the phone face from the home button to open the Samsung Pay app; authorize the payment by scanning your fingerprint; and then simply tap or hover the phone over the POS station, no matter which one the merchant uses.

According to a tweet sent out recently from Will Graylin, Samsung’s Co-GM of Samsung Pay, Samsung device owners on Verizon will be able to download Samsung Pay directly from Google Play. Projections from BI Intelligence say that transactions conducted via mobile will increase tenfold through 2018 to reach $189 billion.

Verizon users are also unable to use the service as Samsung has yet to come to an agreement with the company, but users of other networks including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and others won’t have a problem. “As the leader in innovation, Samsung is proud to introduce the first mobile payment solution that allows you to pay almost anywhere you can swipe or tap your card today”.

For those outside the United States and interested, so far Samsung has said that they want to bring Pay to China, Spain and the United Kingdom in the future, but have yet to commit to a date.

Unlike Apple Pay, Samsung Pay does not rely itself on NFC (Near Field Communication) antennas to enable wireless connection. The service is presently available on the Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+ and Note 5 smartphones. However both Android Pay and Apple Pay have partnerships with larger numbers of U.S. banks and credit unions including Capital One, Navy Federal Credit Union, PNC, Regions, USAA and Wells Fargo. So all the lovers of Samsung get ready to step onboard.