South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics says the country’s 10 credit card companies have agreed to support its new mobile payment system, slated for launch today, Thursday.
Korea will be the first market in which the Samsung Pay service is launched. It supports not only the near field communication (NFC) technology like its rivals but also magnetic secure transmission (MST) and bar code technologies.
The MST technology is significant as it is compatible with conventional credit card devices, and therefore, it can be used in a larger number of shops compared with Apple Pay. Samsung’s progress was made possible as it had bought US mobile technology firm LoopPay, which has patent rights related to MST.
Samsung Pay is available through the Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 Edge+ that were showcased last week, and software upgrades will be provided to the users of the two smartphones.
The service will officially reach the United States on September 28.