Thursday 26 April 2018
Samsung Pay launch date for South Africa — MyBroadband — “Samsung Pay will launch in South Africa around June 2018, the CEO of Samsung Electronics Africa, Sung Yoon, has announced. Speaking on the Expresso Show, Yoon said Samsung Pay will be available this winter, but then firmed up his statement to ‘around June’.
Continuing to make choice a reality with Samsung Pay — PayPal — “Today, we have begun rolling out the ability for consumers to use PayPal within Samsung Pay and make purchases at the millions of retailers that accept Samsung Pay. Samsung Pay users can load their PayPal account with the debit card or bank account found in their PayPal Wallet for use in-store — all while continuing to earn Samsung Rewards points.”
Samsung Canada teams up with RBC to expand Samsung Pay availability to Canadians — Samsung — “This latest announcement follows the expanded Canadian availability of Samsung Pay, with RBC joining existing Samsung Pay partners including CIBC, American Express Canada, ATB Financial, Interac Debit, Mastercard, Scotiabank and Visa Canada.”
Samsung Rewards now rolling out to Samsung Pay users in India — Financial Express — “Samsung India on Thursday rolled out Samsung Rewards for the users of its mobile payments service Samsung Pay in India where they can collect and redeem ‘points’ to purchase the company’s devices. The programme is already available for Samsung Pay users in other global markets, including South Korea, the US, China, Spain, Singapore, Australia, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Russia, Thailand and Malaysia.”
Starbucks Korea debuts voice ordering through Samsung’s Bixby — Starbucks — “Bixby allows My Starbucks Rewards customers in South Korea to place an order and pay through voice recognition ‘on command’. The feature allows customers to speak just as if they were talking to a barista in-store, including modifying their beverage to meet their personal preference… These features are an extension of Starbucks Siren Order, the company’s mobile order and pay technology, which allows customers in South Korea to order and pay for their purchases before arriving at their store.”
Samsung Pay’s monthly Android users hit nearly 7m mark in Feb — Yonhap News — “Some 6.94m users of Android-powered smartphones used Samsung Pay at least once last month… Samsung Pay use was centered during lunch times, with those in their 30s and 40s accounting for 28% and 27%, respectively. The corresponding number for those in their 20s stood at 20%.”
Samsung Pay continues global expansion with launch in Italy — Samsung — “Starting today, Samsung Pay is available to users in Italy with compatible Samsung devices, including wearables like the Samsung Gear S3 and Gear Sport, and the new Galaxy S9 and S9+… Several value-added features will be available exclusively to consumers in Italy. These include discounts up to 20% on popular brands, including Daybreak Hotel, EF Education, Leroy Merlin and Moleskin.”
Groupe BPCE to become the first banking group to launch Samsung Pay in France for Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Epargne customers — Groupe BPCE — “Groupe BPCE is announcing the launch in France of the Samsung Pay mobile payment solution, before the summer and on an exclusive basis, for Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Epargne customers equipped with compatible Samsung smartphones… Customers will be able to make purchases with their smartphones wherever contactless Visa payments are accepted. Holders of the Apetiz meal voucher card will also soon be able to pay for their lunches directly with the Samsung smartphones.”
Built for the way we communicate today: Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ — Samsung — “The Galaxy S9 and S9+ support three different biometric authentication options — iris, fingerprint, and facial recognition — so users can choose the way they want to protect their device and applications. The devices feature Intelligent Scan, a new verification that intelligently uses the collective strength of iris scanning and facial recognition technology to quickly and conveniently unlock a user’s phone in various situations. The Galaxy S9 and S9+ also introduce Dedicated Fingerprint, giving users the option to use a different fingerprint to access Secure Folder than the one used to unlock the phone.”
Mobile payments survey: Apple Pay leads Google Pay in usage and interest among Millennials and GenZ in 2018 — Dealspotr — “In-store, a surprising 11% of Millennials and 10% of GenZers have used Apple Pay to pay for items in the checkout line. Apple Pay (10%) was significantly more popular than rival payment platforms such as Google’s Android Pay (4%) and Samsung’s Samsung Pay (2%)… 15% of Millennials and 15% of Generation Z have used Apple Pay to pay when shopping online (vs 9% and 9% for Google Pay).”
Samsung Pay now available for Commonwealth Bank customers — Commonwealth Bank of Australia — “Commonwealth Bank customers will now have access to Samsung’s contactless payments platform, Samsung Pay… Today’s announcement follows CBA’s partnership with Google in November to offer Android Pay on compatible devices at almost 800,000 stores across Australia. CBA customers have also been able to make payments on the go with Fitbit and Garmin’s new payment-enabled smartwatches.”
Grab and Samsung sign MOU to drive digital inclusion in south-east Asia — Samsung — “Grab and Samsung will work together on a wide range of initiatives to bring the benefits of technology, such as enhanced customer experiences and improved income opportunities, to millions of consumers and Grab driver-partners across south-east Asia… The two companies will also work together to expand into south-east Asia’s fragmented mobile payments ecosystem and provide a mobile payments solution that will serve the needs of consumers in south-east Asia.”
In Russia, booming sales of smartphones that support contactless payments — Vedomosti (translation) — “Demand for them is being driven by the emergence of payment systems from Apple, Samsung and Google. Sales of smartphones that support contactless payments using NFC technology (near field communication), in 2017 compared to 2016, grew by 60% in Russia… Over the past year in Russia, about 8.3m such devices were sold.”
Samsung Pay reaches 100m euros in transactions since its launch in Spain — Samsung Spain (translation) — “70% of respondents say that one of the reasons to buy a Samsung smartphone is to continue enjoying this service… The same study found that the use of mobile payment has increased notably in 2017, with 19% of users compared to 5% registered in 2016…. The convenience and simplicity offered by Samsung Pay are key factors for 75% of the respondents who gave the service a high satisfaction rating.”
Samsung’s patent shows authenticating users by measuring their blood flow patterns — SamMobile — “The patent describes a method to identify users based on blood flow patterns in their fingers or wrists using sensors in smartphones and smartwatches… According to the patent application, it is possible to authenticate users based on their blood flow patterns as ‘the arterial conduction paths of different users are almost never identical’.”
Samsung Pay now available in Mexico — Samsung — “To bring this service to Mexico, Samsung strategically partnered with some of the country’s leading financial partners, including payment providers (American Express, MasterCard and Visa); banks (Banorte, Banregio, Citibanamex, HSBC and Santander); and banking acquirers, services and tools such as Clip and iZettle… Samsung Pay’s entry into the Mexican market marks the second Latin American country to receive the service and the 20th market worldwide.”
Galaxy S9 may feature ‘Intelligent Scan’, a combination of iris scanning and facial recognition — Android Police — “After some digging around in Samsung’s settings app, a developer and AP reader reached out to us about his discovery of something called ‘Intelligent Scan’… It sounds like Intelligent Scan will combine the sometimes-limited information the iris scanner and your front camera can each extract to piece together a fuller picture of whoever is trying to unlock the phone.”
Christmas comes early for Safaricom’s mobile app as it receives the much awaited “big” update — Android Kenya — “Safaricom’s mobile application, dubbed mySafaricom, is receiving a huge update… Smartphones with NFC (Near Field Communication) technology should be in a position to transact using M-Pesa 1 Tap, the latest upgrade to M-Pesa that lets users pay for items at retail outlets and elsewhere via a single ‘tap’, much like Android Pay and Samsung Pay are used for in the markets where they are available.”
Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics to introduce their new low-end smartphones at CES 2018 — ETNews — “Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are going to introduce their new low-end smartphones at CES 2018… Galaxy A8 series are installed with Samsung Pay and fingerprint recognition…. K series are installed with a mobile payment system called LG Pay that is applied to premium smartphones such as G and V series. This is the first time when LG Electronics’ low-end lineup is applied with LG Pay.”
Samsung launches Samsung Rewards, a new loyalty program of Samsung Pay — Samsung Spain (translation) — “Users who make purchases with Samsung Pay will receive Samsung Rewards points each time they make a purchase. The accumulated points will be valid for one year and can be exchanged directly for exclusive gifts.”
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