Samsung Pay finally arrives in India

Samsung has launched its mobile payment service, Samsung Pay in India. It can be used to make purchases wherein you can swipe or tap your debit or credit card to make payments. Currently, the service is available on Galaxy S7 edge, Galaxy S7, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy A5 (2016), Galaxy A7 (2016), Galaxy A5 (2017) and Galaxy A7 (2017).

It is said to be a highly secure platform as it works with three levels of security - fingerprint authentication, card tokenization and Samsung’s defense-grade mobile security platform Samsung KNOX. To launch Samsung Pay, a user needs to swipe up on an eligible Samsung Galaxy smartphone, select the card, authenticate using a fingerprint or PIN and bring the phone near the Point of Sale terminal.

Samsung Pay works with Samsung’s patented Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology as well as with Near Field Communication (NFC). MST replicates a card swipe by wirelessly transmitting magnetic waves from the supported Samsung device to a standard card reader.

Samsung Pay has also integrated Paytm as well as the government’s Unified Payments Interface into the app. Samsung has also created a unique digital payment ecosystem by partnering with a number of issuers and card networks. These include Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI Cards and Standard Chartered Bank. Citibank India is a forthcoming issuer and its credit cards will be live on Samsung Pay soon.