Samsung finally launches its mobile payments service, Samsung Pay in India

South-Korean electronic giant Samsung has finally launched its own mobile payments system — Samsung Pay in India. The official launch of the app comes around two weeks after Samsung introduced its mobile payment service for select users in India who signed up for its early access program.

Besides allowing users in India to simply tap and pay on the go using their registered cards, Samsung Pay has integrated Paytm as well as the government’s Unified Payments Interface into the app. Samsung has also
created a unique digital payment ecosystem by partnering with a number of issuers and card networks that include Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI Card and Standard Chartered Bank. Citibank India is a forthcoming issuer, and its credit cards will be live on Samsung Pay shortly.

"Because Samsung Pay has all the cards (Visa, Mastercard), wallets like Paytm and UPI all integrated into one making things simple and secure at the same time, it is easily amongst the most revolutionary technologies in India right now," said Amitabh Kant, CEO of Niti Aayog at the launch.

To launch Samsung Pay, a user needs to swipe up on an eligible Samsung Galaxy smartphone, select the card, authenticate using a fingerprint or PIN and bring the phone near the Point of Sale terminal. The app comes with three levels of security—fingerprint authentication, card tokenization and Samsung’s defense-grade mobile security platform Samsung KNOX making it highly secure.

What differentiates Samsung Pay from its competitors is that it works with both Samsung’s patented Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology as well as with Near Field Communication (NFC). MST replicates a card swipe by wirelessly transmitting magnetic waves from the supported Samsung device to a standard card reader. Through MST, Samsung pay will work seamlessly on a majority of Point of Sale terminals in India.

Samsung Pay is supported by selected phones of the Galaxy lineup, namely Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy A5 (2016), and Galaxy A7 (2016). The mobile devices compatible with Samsung Pay should’ve received the app automatically on their devices through a  software update; whereas new releases will come with Samsung Pay pre-installed on their devices.