Samsung is announcing a number of new updates for its mobile payments service, Samsung Pay, while bringing the platform to a bevy of new countries.
Samsung Pay, which competes with rival services Apple Pay and Google’s Android Pay, was designed to let consumers create a digital wallet on their Samsung smartphones by entering their credit card information. After that, they can pay for purchases by tapping their smartphones on a point-of-sale device equipped with compatible wireless technology to facilitate transactions.
What makes Samsung Pay different from Apple Pay and Android Pay is that merchants can accept payments using their existing credit card terminals. They do not need near-field communications (NFC) technology—another frictionless type of technology required by Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOGL)—to operate. Samsung Pay’s method sends a small magnetic signal from a smartphone to a credit card reader, which is similar to the signal produced when a credit card is swiped.
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Samsung has also ramped up international expansion. Apple Pay is available in ten countries. With the addition of Thailand, Malaysia, and Russia, Samsung Pay is now also available in 10 countries worldwide.
Thomas Ko, vice president of Samsung Pay, noted that Samsung Pay has surpassed $2 billion in payments processed in South Korea, and currently holds four million cards in Samsung Pay.
While Apple has taken more time for globalization, the company has been speedier to capitalize on in-app payments, which the Cupertino, Calif. Based-company debuted at launch in 2014. These payments allow consumers to use Apple Pay or a mobile payments wallet to pay for items in mobile apps like Uber or Amazon (AMZN). Samsung will debut these types of payments in November. Similar to Apple Pay, users will be able select Samsung Pay during the checkout process and proceed with payments on the phone.
The company also said that it would be adding a new coupon feature to the digital wallet in November, which would show users local discounts and coupons for nearby stores.