Samsung Pay to launch in India today: All you need to know | HT Tech

Samsung Pay to launch in India today: All you need to know

Korean electronics giant Samsung will launch its new digital payment service in the country on Wednesday as India shifts to newer payment methods after the government’s demonetisation exercise.

By: NEW DELHI
| Updated on: Mar 23 2017, 11:27 IST
Samsung is expected to launch its new digital payment service in the country on Wednesday
Samsung is expected to launch its new digital payment service in the country on Wednesday (AFP File Photo)
Samsung is expected to launch its new digital payment service in the country on Wednesday
Samsung is expected to launch its new digital payment service in the country on Wednesday (AFP File Photo)

Anirban Ghoshal

Android phone maker Samsung will launch its digital payment application, called Samsung Pay, in the country on Wednesday as Indians look to shift to newer payment methods after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation exercise.

Samsung had started signing up users for early access to the new payments method and currently owners of the Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy S6 Edge+, Galaxy A5 (2016), and Galaxy A7 (2016) can register online to be eligible for early access of the mobile payments service.

The early access service is available only with a few banks - Axis, HDFC, ICICI, SBI, and Standard Chartered. Samsung is expected to add support for Citibank and American Express soon.

Samsung phones like the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge alongside the upcoming Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are also expected to be compatible with the service. Other handsets that are eligible for the early access programme are also set to receive Samsung Pay support via a software update.

Samsung Pay works with both NFC (near field communication) and MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission). This means it works with any payment terminal (card swiping or reading machine) that accepts either the traditional swipe feature of the card or contactless payments (a method of payment that doesn't need the card to be physically swiped, but instead can just be waved over the terminal).

A user must first link their bank account and card to the Samsung Pay app on the compatible smartphone. Once that is done, payments can be made by firing up the app on the phone and bringing the smartphone close to the NFC-enabled point-of-sale (POS) machine. Once the vendor has entered the amount required to be paid on the POS machine, the payment will be authenticated through the user's fingerprint or a four digit PIN entered on the Samsung Pay app.

There is a catch, however, in that it works with only the top-tier Samsung phones, leaving a great deal of phones (and users) out of its reach.

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First Published Date: 22 Mar, 09:18 IST
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