The mobile payment service Samsung Pay starts today in Spain. This new service from the Korean company will allow us to make payments using the NFC chip of our smartphone , safely and, according to the company, in practically any establishment that accepts payment with a Visa or MasterCard card . The Korean company ensures that Samsung Pay is accepted in more than 30 million commercial establishments around the world, thanks to the use of MST technology . This technology enables Samsung Paywork with own brand credit cards (PLCC) with the cooperation of important partners such as Synchrony Financial and First Data Corporation. In addition, the company has done its homework and has managed to link with businesses, issuing banks and large payment networks, thus allowing it to use a wide variety of payment cards in its Samsung Pay service . Or so the theory says, but is it really so? Let's check it out.
How does it work?
Once we know what Samsung Pay is , let's see how it works. Samsung has wanted to get ahead of other similar systems such as Apple Pay , which has not yet been deployed in Spain. At tuexperto.com we wanted to test Samsung's new payment system first-hand . The first thing we have done is open the Samsung Pay application of our Samsung Galaxy S7. When we open it, just as it used to send us a message informing us that the service was not yet available, now the first thing it tells us is that it has to install the application. Once this process is done, it tells us that you have to update the application. Well, nothing to update has been said.
Perfect, we already have it installed and updated. And now that? Well, we open the application. After a short video that explains how the system works, it informs us of the ID of the Samsung account that is going to be used (if we already have it configured in the terminal) and tells us that the application will access Camera, SMS, Location and Warehouse. We click on START . We accept the conditions and mark that we have read everything.
If you have looked at the video that is played when you start the application, you will have seen that the way to use the service is very simple. When we want to pay at an establishment, we will simply launch the Samsung Pay application , choose the desired payment card and identify ourselves through the fingerprint sensor . In the next step of the configuration it asks us if we want to use the fingerprint sensor as a verification method for our payments. Let's say yes (it can also be done via PIN) . It will tell us that we have to verify with fingerprint . Once verified, the application asks us for a PIN anyway. The application is now ready for use.
While we're at it, let's add a card. Pressing the Add Card button will open a screen in which we will have to frame the card using the camera, although it can also be entered manually using the link below. Both debit and credit cards can be included. And here we run into the first problem. In my case, I use Banco Santander . The card reads it perfectly, but I get a message stating that "this issuer is not compatible with Samsung Pay . " When consulting on the website which cards we can register in the system, it simply indicates that Samsungis working with different entities to list their cards, but does not currently say which entities are associated. Yes, we have been able to verify that La Caixa debit and credit cards are already compatible with the system.
As you can see in the screenshots, the application is really simple. We simply have a screen where to add the cards and, at the top, we can display a menu with which we can enter Settings .
However, not everything is perfect, as we have already seen. In addition to having the account or card in one of the collaborating entities, Samsung Pay is only compatible with the Samsung Galaxy S6, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge + and the recent Samsung Galaxy S7 and Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge . The system has been launched today, so we will give it some time to reach more banks and more terminals. And you, have you been able to test the new Samsung Pay mobile payment system ?