[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics’ mobile payment solution Samsung Pay has sailed past the milestone of 100 million transactions in the global market since its release a year ago in Korea.

Since its first release in the Korean market, the mobile solution has been launched in a total of seven global markets, including the US, China, Spain and Brazil.




The tech giant has not unveiled the exact transaction volume in the global markets, but it said the transaction volume in Korea alone had exceeded 2 trillion won (US$1.78 billion) as of August.

Samsung partners with more than 440 global banks and card companies, including American Express, Union Pay, MasterCard and Visa. It also teams up with Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba, which operates mobile payment platform Alipay in a bid to expand the mobile payment business in Korea and China.

Samsung’s mobile payment solution, which was previously available only at brick-and-mortar shops with traditional payment terminals, or near-field communication-based terminals, is now compatible with ATMs. It can also be used as a transport card and a membership card, and Samsung Pay users can pay for purchases online.

The tech behemoth explained the online availability of the payment solution has contributed to the surge in transaction volume.

Online purchases through Samsung Pay amounted to 500 billion won, or 25 percent of all transactions in Korea, according to the company.

Samsung Pay has been well received by Samsung smartphone users, as the solution allow users to pay for their purchases online using fingerprints for authentication.

The Korean tech giant’s archrival Apple said its contactless payment solution, compatible only with NFC terminals, represents 75 percent of all mobile payments in the US.

The iPhone-maker also said the number of Apply Pay users has been increasing 450 percent every year.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)