Samsung Pay’s UK rollout continues
Samsung has made its digital wallet, Samsung Pay, available in the UK to customers of M&S Bank, First Direct and HSBC.
These three financial institutions join the growing list of banks and payment networks supported by Samsung Pay since last month’s introduction in the region, including Visa, MasterCard and cards issued by Santander, Nationwide and MBNA.
Samsung also announced that customers of other major financial institutions would be able to use Samsung Pay shortly.
To initiate Samsung Pay, users simply swipe up from their mobile device’s screen to bring up the last debit or credit card that they used. They then have the option to prove their identity via fingerprint or iris scanner and make a payment by tapping their device on a payment terminal.
Samsung Pay protects each payment against fraud by replacing sensitive card data with an encrypted digital token. Also, Samsung builds its KNOX security system into the software and hardware of each device to keep data secure and monitor for malicious software.
In addition to traditional merchants, customers can also use Samsung Pay for services provided by Transport for London (TfL), Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and most National Rail services.
Users can also link their loyalty cards for selected UK businesses to accumulate and redeem points, subject to any individual store policies.
Samsung Pay is currently available on the Galaxy S6/S6 edge (via software update), S7/S7 edge and S8/S8+, and it will be available on other mobile devices over the next few months.