Samsung Pay, the manufacturer’s contactless mobile payment service, is rolling out in Europe soon thanks to a partnership with MasterCard in the EU. Once the service launches officially, card issuers will be able to enroll in MasterCard’s Digital Enablement Services (MDES), and apply the capability to all kinds of MasterCard credit, debit, prepaid credit and small business cards.
What makes Samsung Pay a different to most mobile payment services is that it works with both Magstrip and NFC POS terminals, meaning you will be able to pay virtually anywhere that has a card machine.
“Samsung Pay is pleased to join forces with MasterCard to offer a simple and safe mobile payment experience enabled for wider merchant acceptance to MasterCard cardholders and issuers in Europe,” said Injong Rhee, EVP of Samsung Electronics, Global Head of Samsung Pay. “Both organizations are committed to ground breaking fin-tech innovations that will deliver on the promise of a true mobile wallet.”
The news was announced in an official blog post this morning. Although many will see it as a direct competitor to Apple Pay — which it is in some ways — Samsung should perhaps be more concerned about the impending arrival of Android Pay. After all, Apple Pay is only available on iOS devices, while Android Pay will be available on any Android hardware with the right features, and Samsung will presumably support it on its own smartphones. The potential is there for Android Pay to cannibalize Samsung’s own payment service, on its own phones. It’ll be interesting to see how the Korean tech giant plays this one.
No firm release date has been given for Samsung Pay in Europe, but the partnership is now in place to eventually roll out the service in the EU.
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