Samsung Pay mobile payments roll out in UK

Samsung is rolling out its Samsung Pay mobile payments system in the UK, following the launch of the Galaxy S8 and S8+.

It rivals systems such as Android Pay and Apple Pay, and supports payment networks such as Mastercard and Visa and cards issued by MBNA, Nationwide and Santander.

American Express, first direct, HSBC and M&S Bank expected to join “soon”.

Samsung Pay enables payment authentication with Iris Scanner technology, a fingerprint or simply keying in a card’s PIN.

As with the other mobile systems, it uses tokenization creates a unique randomised set of numbers to be used at each new transaction, to avoid using your card number directly from from your phone in a transaction.

“Following the launch of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ earlier this year, we are thrilled to be introducing another innovative service to our latest flagship devices, reinforcing our commitment to making people’s lives easier,” said Conor Pierce, Vice President, IT & Mobile Division, Samsung Electronics UK & Ireland.

“We hope the UK launch of Samsung Pay will transform the way our customers pay for day-to-day items, giving consumers a safer, smarter mobile wallet.”

Samsung Pay is available at launch on the Galaxy S8/S8+, S7/S7 edge, S6/S6 edge (subject to a software update) and “will become available on additional devices in the coming months” according to Samsung.