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Samsung Pay Launches In Korea In August, US In September

Posted by samzenpus on from the pay-with-us dept.

Mark Wilson writes: The main thrust of Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event was to launch the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+, but the company also provided some details about Samsung Pay. With so many similarly-specced smartphones vying for attention, each manufacturer needs to offer something slightly different, and Samsung is hoping that a new digital payment system will prove attractive to people. Going head to head with Android Pay and Apple Pay is Samsung Pay. As well as offering compatibility with the newly announced Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+, Samsung's payment system is supported by many of its older handsets. It will launch in its home country of Korea on August 20, and will spread to the US at the end of September.

30 comments

  1. Yays by Greyfox · · Score: 2

    One more app that will get wiped when the first thing I do with my new phone is root it and install CyanogenMod.

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

  2. Samsung "Pay"... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I smell another lawsuit coming...

    1. Re:Samsung "Pay"... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Generic term is generic.

  3. Will spread? by chaosmind · · Score: 1

    "and will spread to the US at the end of September."

    No.... no it won't.

    1. Re:Will spread? by littledino · · Score: 2

      Yep. I have Apple Pay on my phone and never been inclined to use it. I think the more of these mobile payment schemes that crop up, the more confusing they become for anyone to use.

    2. Re:Will spread? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just like how it's confusing to have to pick between Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, and so on?

    3. Re: Will spread? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You pick Visa and then you don't worry about your card not being accepted. Seriously, I can't remember the last time a merchant didn't take visa if they took cards at all.

      Issue with these mobile payment systems is that my credit card never runs out of battery. People will always need to bring a credit card as backup so this phone thing doesn't really anything except for maybe being easier to find in a purse than the wallet that has the credit card in it.

    4. Re: Will spread? by unrtst · · Score: 1

      ... this phone thing doesn't really anything except for maybe being easier to find in a purse than the wallet that has the credit card in it.

      As I've commented before, I think the marketing for NFC (and pay systems like these) was completely botched. It's not about convenience (or shouldn't be), but should be about security: http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

      I can get to my credit card in my wallet that is ALWAYS in my pocket, and always in the same pocket, and the card always in the same slot in my wallet, WAAAY faster than I can get my phone out, unlock, do pay thing, lock, put it away (and I don't always carry my phone). Even in extreme cases, like going to the beach or skydiving, I'll have my credit card with me (even in the water), but will probably leave my phone somewhere (back in the room; in the car; at home; etc).

      However, the security measures in place for these payment systems are far better than magstripe. That said, I'd rather just go chip-and-pin in the card, and I'm pissed that the US is going chip-and-signature (WTF does the signature add?).

    5. Re: Will spread? by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

      You pick Visa and then you don't worry about your card not being accepted. Seriously, I can't remember the last time a merchant didn't take visa if they took cards at all.

      Sams Club stores only take MasterCard and Discover
      http://help.samsclub.com/app/a...

  4. Something worth exploiting by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

    People will start testing all those new android flaws...

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  5. MST is a dud technology by viperidaenz · · Score: 5, Informative

    Emulating a magnetic card swipe with a magnetic field is a dud.
    If doesn't work with chip and pin cards where the terminal has a chip reader, since the mag swipe will be responded with "Please Insert Card".

    LoopPay, the company Samsung bought to acquire the technology, says "they're working on it" which is only going to be "we're trying to convince card issuers and terminal providers to removed their fraud protections"

    It's also not going to work if your bank uses "Liquid encryption technology[1]", where the magstrip data is updated every time you put your card in their ATM's. It's primary purpose is to stop card skimmers, which LoopPay effectively is. If you scanned your card in to LoopPay then put your real card in an ATM, the next time you use your LoopPay, your bank will lock out your card due to fraud detection, since it will be using the old mag strip data.

    [1]

    1. Re:MST is a dud technology by tlhIngan · · Score: 2

      Emulating a magnetic card swipe with a magnetic field is a dud.
      If doesn't work with chip and pin cards where the terminal has a chip reader, since the mag swipe will be responded with "Please Insert Card".

      LoopPay, the company Samsung bought to acquire the technology, says "they're working on it" which is only going to be "we're trying to convince card issuers and terminal providers to removed their fraud protections"

      Not to mention, it'll be obsoleted Oct 1, 2015 in the US. That's when the implementation of EMV starts, and more importantly than that - the insecure link will be liable.

      So if you have a a Chip+PIN card, and the store has a magstripe reader, even though their bank supports EMV, any fraud goes to the merchant. If instead the bank doesn't support EMV, then the bank pays out.

      With this, if the customer is issued an EMV card and uses the stripe, guess who foots the bill? The customer.

      Even Square is coming out with a new chip reader - and if you're pre-ordering it (which you should), they'll pay for the fraud while you use the magstripe reader until you get the chip reader.

      There's nothing special in your account that says to use chip - I've used the magstripe even when the store has chip readers - it's just that the terminal I was using didn't have a working chip reader. In this case, if you swipe, it goes through. In a chip reader equipped terminal, if you swipe, a bit in the magstripe tells the reader to re-try using the chip instead. (The reader isn't always communicating with the bank, so it doesn't know if the card presented has a chip. The bit in the magstripe lets compatible readers know there is a more secure way to do the transaction).

      And to be honest, we've had EMV so long in Canada, I forget about signing the slip on those exceedingly rare times they only have a magstripe reader.

      I've only had problems at one store where their terminals had crappy firmware and would often lock up the chip reader - no amount of inserting or swiping would work. One day, on a lark, I used the tap thing (which they didn't support, but the reader was capable), which rejected the attempt. Surprisingly, that rejection reset the chip reader because it started working again.

      But yeah, Oct 1, 2015, the US comes into the modern age. If you run a store and haven't upgraded your readers yet, better hurry up. (Though, even before EMV was rolled out in Canada, most terminals started sprouting (non-functional) chip readers way ahead of time, So hopefully it's just a firmware update to activate the chip part.

    2. Re:MST is a dud technology by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LoopPay sounds like Interesting technology, but rewriting the stripe doesn't wear out the card? Also, the next step for card skimmers would then be to make the skimmer pull a small transaction at the time of collection, right? You collectively start buying bitcoins in the background or something and away you go. A better solution might be to incorporate a rotating pin -- the old 2 factor auth approach using something the user has versus what the user knows.

    3. Re:MST is a dud technology by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

      In New Zealand we've had chip+pin for many years now. There are no more terminals without a chip reader.
      Most are NFC capable as well, except a lot of retailers don't support it because NFC merchant fees are higher than regular credit card and debit cards are pretty much free for them.

    4. Re:MST is a dud technology by unrtst · · Score: 1

      So if you have a a Chip+PIN card, and the store has a magstripe reader, even though their bank supports EMV, any fraud goes to the merchant. If instead the bank doesn't support EMV, then the bank pays out. ...
      And to be honest, we've had EMV so long in Canada, I forget about signing the slip on those exceedingly rare times they only have a magstripe reader.

      Except that, in the US, they'll be doing chip+signature, not chip+pin. They plan to eventually migrate to chip+pin once EMV is widely adopted (years from now).

      And for US folks with a chip+signature card, those still won't work in EU kiosks, since those strictly require chip+pin. IMO, it's a pretty stupid baby-step.

    5. Re:MST is a dud technology by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

      When I try to swipe a card that has the chip at Walmart, the machine tells me I have to insert the card instead. For stores that don't have the chip, swiping works.

  6. Hey corporate dicks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hey, corporate dicks, we don't want mobile payment. We want to keep paying in cash before the government bans that too.

  7. Samsung Pay? What a joke by st3v · · Score: 1, Troll

    I doubt this would gain traction. I for one would never trust Samsung with my information. They will never become Apple Pay. Judging by the lame bloatware they add to their "powerful" Galaxy devices that slow them to a crawl, and their lack of innovation in the mobile space, I predict failure. Just another case of, "Me, too."

  8. More Samsung marketing creativity by PapayaSF · · Score: 1

    Samsung's marketing continues its long tradition of innovation. I swear, if Apple came out with a product called "Apple Sux," within a year there's be a similar product called "Samsung Sux."

    --
    Q: What does the "B." in Benoit B. Mandelbrot stand for? A: Benoit B. Mandelbrot
    1. Re: More Samsung marketing creativity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually it would be called the "Samsung Galaxy Sux Pro S7"

    2. Re: More Samsung marketing creativity by wardrich86 · · Score: 1

      and it would come bundled with 3 other things that nobody gives a crap about, and that can't be deleted.

  9. why not use Google wallet? by basecastula+ · · Score: 1

    Having had my butt saved by Google wallet, why would i uninstall that and go with Samsung pay?

  10. Cash...Accepted Everywhere, No Fees by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For small everyday transactions it's still hard to beat cash. It's anonymous, private, fast and supports no added fee structure. In larger transactions it can be a bargaining tool in it's own right in ways that credit cards or other electronic forms of payment cannot. Ever heard of the cash discount? This is especially true when purchasing medical services at doctor's offices. Many doctors will accept as much as 20% less their usual fee if paid cash on the same day rather than having to bill insurance and wait months to be paid and then have the balance paid by credit card, which also takes a fee off their (the doctor's) share of the payment. Cash is still king, no doubt about it.

    1. Re:Cash...Accepted Everywhere, No Fees by Guybrush_T · · Score: 1

      That's completely untrue in many countries now.

      For small everyday transactions, cash is a real pain to use. You need to carry coins, pay the exact amount, get frequently cash at ATMs (because you may not want to carry a lot of money with you). When you get coins back, you need to put them back in your wallet, not let them fall on the ground, ... 30 seconds instead of 3 with a phone.

      Shopkeepers also don't like cash, since they need to frequently move large amounts of money to the bank -- or pay the bank to fetch it on a daily basis.

      So, maybe, in countries where credit card fees are high and criminality is ultra-low, it won't work. But those systems intend to lower the transaction fees so that it is really more convenient for everybody to use your phone rather than get cash out of your wallet.

  11. What a country! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Kim Jong-in is truly a modern day marvel, who else even comes close!

    Oh wait, you mean South Korea... Maybe you should have mentioned that? Korea isn't 'a country'.

  12. Yo! Neolithic ass-clowns! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nobody is forcing you to use your telephone for payment.

  13. Who cares! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    S5 owner here. Never used the s5's inbuilt payment features. Key problem: banks did not care. They still don't.

    Snooze.

  14. BBM + Paypal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why not get BBM and use Paypal? The service is launching in Canada soon and the USA shortly thereafter. You can do secure paypal transactiosn through the Blackberry infrastructure. Or you can trust Samsung. Your choice.