Compare Credit Cards with Samsung Pay

In order to use Samsung Pay, you will need a Samsung account to log in and set up in the Samsung Pay app.

In order to set up Samsung Pay on your smart watch, you will need your phone to connect and allow access to your account.

Using Samsung Pay on your devices:

Samsung devices need the Android Marshmallow 6.0 (or above) operating system to be able to install the Samsung Pay app. The device (either phone or wearable device such as a smart watch) also needs near-field communication (NFC) capabilities to be used for in-person contactless payments.

Once you have the Samsung Pay app, simply add your card details (or use the camera scanning option) to enable the card’s use with Samsung Pay. You will be prompted to select your preferred verification method when making payments with Samsung Pay. There are currently three possible verification methods available: iris scanning, fingerprint scan, or PIN code. You will also have to make sure Samsung Pay is your default contactless payment if in your settings it isn’t already.

Once everything is set up and your card has been added, you can pay by unlocking your device and holding it near the machine reader until a check mark appears to show the transaction has been accepted.

When making online purchases, you will know if online stores or apps allow you to pay with Samsung Pay if you see the Samsung Pay button or a Samsung Pay payment option during check-out.

Samsung Pay is Samsung’s digital wallet that can be used on Samsung devices, such as phones and smart watches, to make in-person purchases or  as a checkout method online at participating websites.

Samsung Pay uses near-field communication (NFC) technology built into the device to make contactless payments. Samsung Pay uses Tokenization, which is a digital device-specific ‘token’. To protect your payment information and reduce security risks, the ‘token’ acts as the surrogate value when making payments with Samsung Pay.

Since cards are stored in the device ‘token’, if you switch your phone, you will have to manually re-register your compatible bank cards again. However, your loyalty cards can be restored.

Samsung states that it does not store your personal or payment information on Samsung devices or their server. Samsung Pay uses Tokenization and Samsung KNOX, Samsung’s inbuilt mobile security platform, to secure your payment information. In addition to these measures, it is also a requirement to use a verification method each time you use Samsung Pay, which can be either through iris scan, fingerprint scan or a PIN code.

Tokenization is a digital device-specific ‘token’ that acts as the surrogate value when making payments with Samsung Pay. Samsung states that tokenization provides Samsung Pay with a ‘Secure Environment’ as it is a physically segregated chip in the phone which only allows access to highly sensitive operations and information such as fingerprint and payment information. According to Samsung, this prevents other normal applications and malware from accessing the data stored in this ‘Secure Environment’.

If you have lost your device, you can use Samsung’s Find My Mobile service to lock your device or wipe all data from the device. These features will prevent the use of Samsung Pay with the device or access to your stored information. Additionally, Samsung KNOX scans for whether the device has been compromised and can permanently disable Samsung Pay on the device. Samsung also notes on their website that each transaction should be protected by your bank’s fraud policy.

Samsung Pay is only available to use on compatible Samsung devices. For a full list of compatible devices, visit the Samsung Pay website for details. Samsung also states on their website that Samsung Pay is only available on Australian Samsung Smartphones and devices from other countries may not support Samsung Pay in Australia.

In order to install the app, your Samsung device needs an operating system that is the Android Marshmallow 6.0 software or above to be compatible.

The Samsung Pay app notes that the app on compatible smart watches does not have all the functionality available on smartphones.

If you do not have a Samsung device, you might want to look into Google Pay if you have an Android device, or Apple Pay if you have an Apple device.

Contactless payments, or tap-and-go payments, uses radio frequency identification (RFID) or near-field communication (NFC) — a subset of RFID — to send encrypted information wirelessly to other devices. You will find RFID technology in your contactless-enabled physical credit and debit cards and NFC technology for digital contactless payments.

In order for NFC to be used, the device is required to be in very close proximity to the machine reader for the information to be sent. This requirement adds extra security for contactless payments when used between cards or devices that have NFC capabilities and point-of-sale systems capable of reading NFC data.

Samsung states that it does not charge any fees when using Samsung Pay and even gives their own reward points for transactions made using Samsung Pay. The Samsung website states that these points can be redeemed for various products from Samsung Pay’s official retail partners.

However, keep in mind that your credit card still has its own interest and fees involved with their use that is separate to Samsung Pay and involves the credit card provider.

Businesses can also apply a ‘credit card surcharge’ to these transactions too, regardless of whether you’re using a physical or digital card.

At the time of writing, Samsung Pay is supported by 71 card providers, which includes Australia’s big four banks. You can read the detailed list of participating providers on Samsung’s website.

It should be noted that banks are the ones that allow for the use of Samsung Pay and certain cards may not be eligible for Samsung Pay. Banks also have the ability to restrict any of their cards from making mobile payments. Eligibility to earn credit card rewards points or cashbacks may also be affected with the use of Samsung Pay. See your credit card’s terms and conditions or call your card provider to query for full details on their compatibility with Samsung Pay.