Samsung Pay can be used at more locations than either Apple Pay or Android Pay, but until today it was not available to Verizon subscribers.
America’s largest carrier finally has Samsung Pay
In late September when Samsung introduced Samsung Pay, it was rolled out to AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular. Quite glaringly the launched left out the largest U.S. carrier. After an inexplicable delay following last month’s launch of Samsung Pay, the 105 million postpaid subscribers to Verizon’s wireless offerings will finally be allowed to use the impressive payment platform. Well, technically, a small fraction of Verizon subscribers will be given access to Samsung Pay as it’s specific to newer model phones.
The app that should be live by the time this piece is finished by me and posted by ValueWalk is only compatible with the following now-generation phones: Samsung’s Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+ and Galaxy Note5.
Once the app is downloaded from Google Play, users may still not be able to use it. Instead, Samsung explained that there may still be a few things to do:
“If you are a Verizon user and your phone needs to be updated to work with Samsung Pay, you’ll be prompted to download the necessary updates during the application installation process. Once installed, you can open Samsung Pay, input your necessary information and instantly start paying directly from your qualified Samsung smartphone,” Samsung explained in a blog post.
What makes Samsung Pay special?
Samsung was quite giddy when it announced its acquisition of LoopPay in February of this year.
“We are excited to take our relationship with LoopPay to the next level, by bringing consumers a mobile wallet solution that is not just safe and reliable, but also widely accepted at more locations than any competing service,” said David Eun, executive vice-president of Samsung’s Global Innovation Center.
The reason that Samsung Pay (using LoopPay technology) is accepted at “more locations that any competing service” is the unique way by which equipped devices create a magnetic field that allows for use on tradition magnetic scanning machines.
Sure, more and more retailers are installing NFC chip readers and special point-of-sale terminals as banks and businesses look to bolster security, but many small retailers haven’t made the jump yet. With Samsung Pay, it doesn’t matter.
And now Verizon is on board.
