News Feature | October 28, 2015

Samsung Pay Goes Live On Verizon Network

Christine Kern

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Samsung Pay Launch

Update enabling Samsung Pay now available for compatible Verizon phones.

Samsung Pay is now available for phones running on the Verizon network, the leading wireless carrier in the United States. And just 10 days after it announced support for the new payment platform, Verizon also rolled out updates to Verizon devices that enable Samsung Pay, according to Android Central.

The mobile payment platform will be available for Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+, and Galaxy Note 5 phones.  Verizon was the last of the major US carriers to announce compatibility with Samsung Pay, according to C|Net. Samsung Pay launched on AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and US Cellular earlier this fall.

Samsung Pay enters the market in competition with Apple Pay and Android Pay, all of which allow customers to complete a transaction by merely waving their smartphone in front of a payment terminal, instead of swiping a credit card.

Samsung Pay employs Near Field Communications (NFC) to make payments at point-of-sale systems that accept tap-to-pay, but -- unlike Apple Pay and Google Wallet --  Samsung Pay will leverage Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) which allows the system to work at most cash registers, regardless of whether or not they accept NFC payments. So long as the register accepts mag-stripe credit cards, which is something that nearly every single cash register can do, Samsung Pay should work, as Digital Trends explained.

"We are proud to partner with Verizon to bring Samsung Pay to Verizon customers," said Nana Murugesan, Samsung's vice president of strategy and operation, in a statement. "With Samsung Pay, Verizon customers will be able to shop like yesterday and pay like tomorrow. With the widest acceptance of retailers, Samsung Pay works almost anywhere you can swipe or tap your card."

Samsung estimates that approximately 30 million merchant locations worldwide will accept the new payment platform. Its technology makes it “universally accepted,” in contrast to Apple Pay and Google Wallet, which only work with NFC technology.  And while Samsung Pay will not work at card readers that require a physical trigger like ATMs or gas pumps, the company asserts that it will work at 80 percent of all point-of-sale systems.