Samsung Pay launches in China

PanARMENIAN.Net - Samsung has collaborated with China UnionPay to launch Samsung Pay in China, Android Central reports.

Customers in the country will be able to use the contactless payment service on the Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+ and Galaxy Note 5, with Samsung stating that mid-range models will be able to take advantage of the service in the future.

Samsung Pay currently supports credit and debit cards from nine banks in the country, including China CITIC Bank, China Construction Bank, China Everbright Bank, China Guangfa Bank, China Minsheng Banking Corp. Ltd, China Merchants Bank, Hua Xia Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Ping An Bank. Support for six additional banks — Bank of China, Bank of Beijing, Bank of Communications, China Bohai Bank, Industrial Bank and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank — is in the works.

"We are pleased to be partnering with CUP to bring Samsung Pay to China," said Injong Rhee, EVP and Head of R&D, Software and Services of Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics. "The reception of Samsung Pay since its launch has been extremely positive and the service has already seen tremendous success in terms of availability and adoption by consumers. In compliance with national laws and regulations, thanks to cooperating with CUP and many banks, we ultimately want to make Samsung Pay available to as many consumers as possible in China, so that everyone can have the opportunity to enjoy the simplicity, safety and convenience of this mobile payment solution."

Samsung Pay is different from other contactless payment services in that it includes MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission), making the service compatible with older POS machines that feature a magnetic card swiper.