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Samsung Pay finally available in SA: Everything you need to know

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Imagine rushing into a store collecting all the items you need for that epic morning breakfast meeting and then realising, with a cold shudder and a falling tummy, that you have no cash or a bank card.

Well, this is what happened to the president of Samsung Africa, Sung Yoon, at a Samsung executive meeting in 2015 in Texas, United States of America. But Yoon took out his Samsung phone and asked if he could pay for the bill via Samsung Pay.

The confused cashier eventually allowed him to try it out and voila he was out of the store with coffee and muffins for his “big boss”.

Three years later and Samsung’s mobile payment system is finally available in South Africa.

“Since 2015 we’ve worked with key card networks – Visa and Mastercard; local banks – Absa and Standard Bank and the Payments Association of South Africa – who approved our technology. It took three years [to arrive] in South Africa because we ran tests with all these organisations. It took long, but our focus is how we can provide seamless experience to the consumer,” Yoon said at the Sandton Convention Centre on Tuesday.

In a statement from Samsung also on Tuesday Craige Fleischer, an executive at Samsung South Africa, said “Samsung Pay works almost anywhere you can swipe, insert or tap a card, so as the first country in Africa to implement this, we are hugely excited about how it’s going to transform our customers’ lives”. This was echoed by Yoon who said that before they roll out to the rest of Africa, they will analyse the debit and credit card transactions in other countries, as South Africa was chosen mainly because of its high volume of credit card transactions.

How does it work?

In essence all you need to use Samsung pay is a Samsung supported phone (as not all smartphone models are as yet compatible), bank with either Absa or Standard Bank (which is another limitation that needs ironing out) and obviously a purchase.

After downloading the app from the play store, you secure the app biometrically (iris or fingerprint scan) or create a pin to authenticate payments.

After linking your bank cards and providing a signature, it’s all fun and games.

Using Samsung Pay is a shorter process. When you open the app it will prompt you to authenticate that it is indeed you using Samsung Pay. You can use one of the three authentication methods and then simply tap your phone to the point of sale terminal – all should be square and off you go.

Marketing officer of Samsung, Justin Hume, tested out the app on stage at the launch and within seconds he had paid for a coffee.

 

Safety

Despite mobile and internet payments increasing at a rapid pace, security still remains one of the most common reasons people prefer not to sign up to contactless payment services.

To change this perception Phillip Henning, Samsung Pay’s project manager, says “Samsung Pay uses multi-layered security platforms to protect and keep your information secure”.

These security platforms are now standard with Samsung’s flagship smartphones and include fingerprint scanning, iris scanning, as well as the standard pin system.

But what’s got Samsung really excited is the use of their defence-grade security system called Samsung Knox.

“It has been certified by 26 governmental agencies and is rated as the safest mobile security platform that currently exists,” said visibly excited Henning, adding that Knox also monitors your Galaxy device for any malicious external threats.

Another layer of security is tokenisation, which is offered through Visa and Mastercard.

“What tokenisation does is that it takes your existing card number, at enrolment, and it changes your card number to something different. It then releases a token and cryptographic information on to the device,” Henning said.

This means that when you pay for something, you card details are never on display, either on your phone or on the point of sale terminal. This makes cloning a bank card very difficult. It also means that each transaction has a unique token for every transaction.

First impressions

Downloading the app from the Play Store has a visible size of 1.5MB, while the app size, when checked on the S8’s app info, was about 5.27MB when first used.

You would also have to allow Samsung Pay to make and mange phone calls as well as access your contacts.

Testing the app at the launch event, City Press was impressed by the speed at which payments can be made and quick detection of the iris scanner, while the layout of the app is clean, simple and easy to navigate.

Mobile payment systems are not new anymore but with the rising numbers of smartphones, especially with Samsung dominating the local market, this was the natural next course for the Korean brand. At least now that one friend who always forgets to bring along money when the squad goes out won’t have any excuse not to pay.


Muhammad Hussain
Journalist
City Press
p:+27 11 713 9001
w:www.citypress.co.za  e: muhammad.hussain@citypress.co.za
      

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