Across the globe, every passing day, the trend of mobile payment is scaling new heights, so does in India. Mobile payment got a huge thrust when Apple introduced Apple Pay in the year 2014 followed by Google launching Android Pay in 2015. Moreover, with ‘Samsung Pay’, Samsung Electronics jumped into the fray with its own mobile payment mechanism. And these days, in India, Samsung Pay is gaining immense popularity, and why not it be, thanks to innumerable Samsung smartphone users in the country.

Samsung Pay was launched in India in March 2017, and today the digital payment service works at millions of retail stores nationwide. With India population swearing in to go cashless and honorable India PM endorsed ‘Digital India’ campaign on the run, there could not have been a better time for the launch of Samsung Pay in India. For its digital payment service, Samsung has partnered with all the leading banks and card issuers. So let’s get to know more about Samsung Pay in India.

How Does Samsung Pay Work

Samsung Pay is presented in both technologies NFC (Near Field Communication) as well as MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission), which makes it attuned with newer payment terminals alongside older card readers that depend on a magnetic signal from conventional pay cards.

In simple terms, Samsung Pay imitates the magnetic signal of a payment card and sends out that information wirelessly by means of a very small metal coil placed at the rear of supported devices. This lets Samsung Pay to operate with numerous older payment terminals, which cannot accept NFC payments. Here, you just need to connect the internet in order to set up your payment cards, however, do not require an active connection to use Samsung Pay at shopping stores.

Devices Supported By Samsung Pay

In India, at present, Samsung Pay works on all the Samsung Galaxy devices, which comprise of

Samsung Galaxy S8
amsung Galaxy S8+
Samsung Galaxy S7
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
Samsung Galaxy Note 5
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro

Payment cards supported by Samsung Pay

Currently, you can use Samsung Pay with credit or debit card provided by banks like Axis Bank, HDFC, ICICI, State Bank of India (SBI), or Standard Chartered. Furthermore, credit cards from international players such as American Express and Citibank are also linked with this service. In near future, Samsung Pay is expected to partner with more banks and financial institutions.

If case you come across any issue in setting up your card while using the digital payment service, you can call Samsung’s customer service at 1800-123-7729.

Regarding Paytm And UPI

If you integrate Samsung Pay with Paytm then you can link your digital wallet to the service and, within the Samsung Pay interface, can send money or scan a QR code. With this, you can also refill your Paytm wallet balance. What’s more, for this, you do not require to have the Paytm app installed on your smartphone in order to link your wallet to the Samsung Pay. Similarly, Samsung Pay is also integrated into UPI by Samsung. Here the transfers are handled by Axis Bank. Under UPI, after linking your virtual payment addresses of various banks, you will be able to send or receive money.

Where To Use Samsung Pay In India

Samsung Pay can be used at any retail store that accepts card/digital payments. Samsung Pay’s MST compatibility actually gives an over competitor payment service providers like Android Pay and Apple Pay. Samsung has already introduced its services in India, while Android Pay is anticipated to launch later this year. To transmit payment information Android Pay services rely solely on NFC. In order to make POS systems work with Android Pay, many of them need to be upgraded. Conversely, you can use Samsung Pay at almost all retail stores, courtesy MST.

Although, in India, Samsung has partnered with all the leading retail brands to encourage Samsung Pay, but still if your store is not on the list, you can still make mobile payment, as what the retailer needs is merely a card reader. Besides this, globally Samsung Pay also works for online buying, but at present, in India the service is restricted to in-store payments only.

Samsung Pay Security

Samsung Pay either requires fingerprint or PIN to authenticate the account, while the app is also safeguarded by Samsung’s Knox platform. Payment information is transmitted using tokenization, which substitutes your physical card’s digit with a unique identifier. Hence, no card information is revealed that ensures additional security. Payment data is stored locally on your Samsung Pay app, hence; your card data will not be transfer over in case you change devices. Here, you will have to set up your cards again.

Transaction Limit For Samsung Pay

The transaction is restricted to INR 1 lakh, which means you can make purchases of under one lakh rupees. To encourage the use of Samsung Pay, Samsung has come up with many cashback offers, which you can avail when you start using this service.

So that was a brief look at what Samsung Pay offers. Therefore, if you have got one of the aforementioned mobile device and payment card, why don’t you go for it, it’s really simple and hassle-free way to make a purchase.