Samsung Pay Goes Live In UK: Everything You NEED To Know

Samsung Pay has finally arrived in the UK with support from three major banks

After an eternity of waiting (well, more like a year and a bit actually), Samsung Pay has officially arrived in the UK, with the support of three major banks right off the bat.

The service is accessible via Samsung's dedicated applicaton, which is currently in build 2.7.17 and can be downloaded via Samsung's app store; Galaxy Apps. It is only compatible with the following devices, however:

• Samsung Galaxy Note 5
• Samsung Galaxy S6
• Samsung Galaxy S6 EDGE
• Samsung Galaxy S6 EDGE+
• Samsung Galaxy S7
• Samsung Galaxy S7 EDGE
• Samsung Galaxy S8
• Samsung Galaxy S8+

That said, word from Samsung is that its mid and lower tier phones launched in the near future will also be made compatible with the service.

Here are the banks and cards which support Samsung Pay from today:

• HSBC (Mastercard & Visa Credit and Debit Cards)
• American Express (AMEX Credit and Debit Cards)
• Nationwide (Visa Credit and Debit Cards)

Back in September 2015, Samsung made a flurry of announcements about several new products including the Galaxy Note 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+. However, for those into ditching their wallet, the big announcements was further news on the upcoming availability of Samsung Pay–Samsung’s mobile wallet solution, and the competitor to both Apple Pay and Google Wallet.

There are several ways Samsung Pay looks to have a leg up on both Apple Pay and Google Wallet. But there’s also some major differences–not all some people will like. Here’s everything you need to know about Samsung Pay.

What Is Samsung Pay?

Samsung Pay is Samsung’s mobile wallet solution. It lets you store your credit, debit, and loyalty cards in your mobile device, which you can then use to pay for purchases at the till instead of having to get your physical card out of your wallet.

What Devices Does Samsung Pay Work With?

All of Samsung’s latest mobile devices including the Galaxy S6, the Galaxy S6 Edge, the Galaxy S6 Edge+, and the Galaxy Note 5.

How Does Samsung Pay Work?

When you are ready to pay for a purchase, take out one of your Samsung Pay devices and bring it up to the card reader. Unlike with an iPhone and Apple Pay, no payment confirmation screen will automatically appear. Samsung does this on purpose as it says their way is easier to make sure you don’t make an accidental purchase. Instead, once you raise your phone to the payment terminal, you’ll need to swipe up from the bottom of the screen (even if the device’s screen is off) to activate Samsung Pay and then a credit card will pop up. You can then confirm the purchase by authenticating with your fingerprint.

What Transfer Technologies Does Samsung Pay use?

Samsung Pay actually uses two technologies. The first is NFC, or Near Field Communication, which most people are familiar with. But Samsung Pay also allows you to transmit your credit card data via Magnetic Secure Transmission, or MTS.

How Does MTS Differ From NFC?

If MTS sound familiar it’s because it's how credit and debit cards have been transferring your data for decades: by magnetic swipe. Where NFC uses radio frequencies to transmit your data, MTS uses magnetic technology.

So in addition to an NFC chip Samsung devices that support Samsung Pay also have a special wire inside the phone that enables them to send a MTS transmission to any magnetic card reader. So even though you don’t need to swipe your phone (how awkward would that be?) you can use Samsung Pay at almost any terminal that accepts swipe cards. Simply hold your phone near the magnetic card reader and the MTS wire inside the phone will transfer the data just a the magnetic strip on the back of your physical cards do.

Can MTS Be Used At All Credit Card Terminals?

Most but not all. Any card reader that requires a physical trigger to use the card–like those at petrol pumps–can’t intimate a transaction via MTS just by placing your phone near it.

Is It Secure?

Yes. As with Apple Pay, once you’ve added all your payment cards to Samsung Pay their numbers are actually no longer stored in your device. Instead a unique Device Account Number is assigned to each payment method and encrypted. This encrypted number is then tokenized when making a payment, so even the retailer you are paying never gets access to your card numbers. This tokenization works for both NFC and MTS transmissions.

What Payment Choices Do I Have Using Samsung Pay?

When it launches later this summer, Samsung Pay will only support Matercards and Visa cards from bigger banks like Chase and Bank of America. However, as with Apple Pay before it, Samsung Pay will add more institutions as time goes on.

Where Can Samsung Pay Be Used?

This is an areas where Samsung Pay is going to have the clear advantage over Apple Pay and Google Wallet. Why? It’s thanks to their support of MTS. NFC is still a fledgling technology and many merchants simply don’t have terminals that support it. But virtually EVERY merchant supports MST. Right now Apple Pay is only supported at about 800,000 stores in the US (including major chains like McDonald’s, Subway, Walgreens and more).

Samsung Pay, theoretically, on the other hand will likely be supported at all those stores and millions more thanks to MST. However, MST support should matter less as time goes on. Laws are coming into effect in the US this year that will require merchants to upgrade their terminals with newer NFC technology, so Apple Pay’s locations will grow. Still, it’s nice that Samsung Pay is “backwards compatible.”