Samsung Pay expands to take on rival Apple with launch of branded debit card this summer
- Samsung Pay launched in 2015, but was a digital service on the smartphone
- Now, the firm is rolling out a branded debit card to users this summer
- The card will also support a cash management account with SoFi
- The move is a bid to take on Apple Pay, which was released in 2019
Samsung Pay is moving from the smartphone and into your hands, as the firm announced it is set to launch a physical ‘innovated’ debit card.
The branded card is said to be supported by a cash management account in partnership with personal finance company SoFi.
Both products will first be released in the US this summer, but details about the services will be shared ‘in the coming weeks.’
The move allows Samsung to compete with Apple, which rolled out a branded payment card in 2019.
Scroll down for video
Samsung Pay is moving from the smartphone and into your hands, as the firm announced it is set to launch a physical ‘innovated’ debit card. The move allows Samsung to compete with Apple, which rolled out a branded payment card in 2019
Samsung launched Samsung Pay about five years ago, which is a digital card that lets you use your smartphone to make purchases at retail stores.
However, the firm is shifting gears and wants to join its rivals by offering a physical card to users.
Sang Ahn, Vice President and GM of Samsung Pay, said in a blog post: ‘When we launched Samsung Pay in 2015, we brought never before seen technologies to the mobile payments experience.’
‘Back then, Samsung Pay was the only mobile payments platform with built-in magnetic secure transmission technology (MST) along with NFC functionality, making it possible to pay practically anywhere you can swipe a card.’
‘Even today, Samsung’s MST technology remains unique among mobile wallets.’
MST emulates the magnetic strip on the back of a physical card to transfer details on the Samsung pay app.
This allows the digital card to be accepted at a traditional card machine or payment terminal.
Samsung launched Samsung Pay about five years ago, which is a digital card that lets you use your smartphone to make purchases at retail stores
And this is what has separated the firm from Apple in the past – Apple Pay was only accepted at certain places that had Near-field Communication (NFC) technology.
But now that Apple has moved to a physical card, Samsung knows it needs to follow in suit.
‘Samsung Pay will be expanding our service from being a rewarding way to shop and pay, to also being a rewarding way to manage money,’ Ahn wrote.
‘Over the past year we have been busy developing a mobile-first money management platform.’
Apple launched a physical card for Apple Pay in 2019
‘Our vision is to help consumers better manage their money so that they can achieve their dreams and goals.
‘Now more than ever, mobile financial services and money management tools will play an even bigger role in our daily lives while also opening up new possibilities.’
Samsung will be partnering with SoFi, a US firm that specializes in online personal finance, to develop a cash management account for users.
Google is reportedly working on its own branded payment card as well and Huawei may also join the race with their own card.