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Samsung Electronics Australia today launched the company’s mobile payment service, Samsung Pay, bringing Australian consumers and businesses a secure, fast, and simple way to pay. The mobile payment service works almost anywhere¹ you can pay with a participating credit or debit card.

Samsung Pay will be available starting today on compatible Samsung smartphones including the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, with specific availability varying by local operator².

“Today’s launch of Samsung Pay offers more than a secure and convenient way for Samsung smartphone owners to pay,” said Prasad Gokhale, Vice President, Mobile Division, Samsung Australia. “It’s the next development for Australians who use their smartphone as the central device to live, organise and enjoy their lives.

“Australia is a market of early technology adopters and by providing a platform open to all partners, ranging from government to financial institutions and retailers, while upholding the highest standards of security and data privacy, Samsung is fueling the transition to a truly digital wallet.”

The arrival of Samsung Pay in Australia follows successful launches in South Korea, the United States, China and Spain.

“In the first six months of launching in Korea and the U.S., Samsung Pay has surpassed more than 5 million registered users and today has processed more than US$1billion of transactions in South Korea alone,” said Elle Kim, Global Vice President, Samsung Pay, Mobile Communications Business. “This success indicates a tremendous opportunity in Australia, a market where contactless payments are already in strong demand.”

Strong Partnerships to Benefit Consumers and Businesses

At launch, Samsung Pay partners in Australia will be American Express and Citibank.

Citibank credit card cardholders as well as American Express Issued Card Members will be able to use Samsung Pay, with a compatible Samsung smartphone, at participating retailers.

Vice President Payment Consulting Group, American Express JAPA, Nick Alexander, said: “Samsung Pay provides our American Express Issued Card Members another way to pay using the latest in smartphone payment technology, and speeds up the payment process for merchants. American Express is not only striving to be where our customers are, but are also looking for more ways to integrate rewards and loyalty into the payment experience, so that when our customers use their phones to pay, they are earning rewards as well.”

Citi Global Consumer Bank, Australia, Managing Director of Cards and Consumer Lending, Alan Machet said: “The strong partnership between Citibank and Samsung Pay will see both parties collaborate to bring services to our globally-minded customers. Citi credit card customers can now simply and securely use Samsung mobile phones to tap and pay for purchases in Australia and overseas.”

“Samsung Pay is strategically expanding its partnership ecosystem to provide greater flexibility, access and choice for our customers,” said Kim.

“Samsung Pay adopts an open engagement model, designed to support payment and non-payment cards from multiple providers. By doing this, Samsung can operate seamlessly with a wide range of partners, systems and payment channels,” Kim added.

More Than Money

Outside of payments, Samsung Pay has the potential to be integrated with an array of partners, ranging from major retailers to government departments and ticketing companies.

Partner integration is even simpler with Samsung Pay because the technology utilizes Near Field Communication (NFC) and Samsung’s proprietary technology called Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST), making it the only payment solution with wider acceptance.

“The MST technology enables Samsung Pay to support partners that use a traditional magnetic stripe, commonly found on loyalty cards, gift cards and transit cards, both in Australia and across the globe,” Kim said.

“It’s our goal to one day replace wallets, by making every card accessible on Samsung smartphones. In countries like Australia, where customers are already using their smartphones to make payments, our customers will certainly value the benefits of having all their cards in one place and Samsung Pay will provide that convenience to them,” Kim concluded.

Safe and Secure

Samsung Pay includes three levels of security to help enable secure payments – fingerprint authentication, tokenisation and Samsung KNOX.

Each transaction uses an encrypted digital token to replace a user’s personal payment information and payments can only be authorised with an approved fingerprint or PIN. Samsung’s industry-leading KNOX security platform also monitors malicious software and activities on a user’s device for added security and protection.

Easy-to-Use Application

To make a payment on Samsung Pay, simply swipe up, choose the desired payment card, authenticate the transaction with the fingerprint sensor and tap the device on the point of sale terminal.

Samsung Pay can be used in an offline mode, should customers be located in areas without internet connectivity³.

1 Availability almost anywhere is based on compatibility of Samsung Pay on MST and/or NFC payment terminals, with some supported for use only after software upgrades. Samsung Pay will be available soon for Galaxy S6 and S6 edge on the Telstra network. Samsung Pay is exclusive to selected Samsung Galaxy smartphones only, and available across all participating payment networks, banks, and merchants. Availability may vary, please check for updates.

2 Samsung Pay is available to these smartphones with the Marshmallow software update. Availability of this update to specific devices is dependent on individual operators. Samsung Pay will be available soon for Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge and Galaxy Note 5 on the Telstra network.  Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge do not support MST.

3 Internet access is required occasionally to download new tokens (as defined by card schemes). Limits to offline transactions are dependent on each card scheme.