When compared to Apple Pay and Android Pay, the entry of Samsung Pay into the UK market is a bit late, and yet you know what they say, better late than never. So when they finally launched it last March, two years after it debuted in South Korea, Samsung fans were pretty stoked, until they realized that it only supported a few banks. Now they have added support for some bigger banks, specifically HSBC, First Direct and M&S Bank cards.
Initially, Samsung Pay was only used by customers of MBNA, Nationwide, and Santander. Most of the major banks did not make it to the initial rollout, but at least now, they have also included the bigger players in the market. However, financial institution leaders like Lloyds Bank and Barclay still do not have Samsung Pay support. The sort of good news, at least for Samsung, is that Android Pay also doesn’t have them as well.
For now, only the previous and current flagships from Samsung can use this mobile payment gateway: Galaxy S6 and S6 edge, Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, and the Galaxy S8 and S8+. The upcoming software update for the Galaxy A3 and A7 will reportedly have support for Samsung Pay as well, and more additional devices in the coming month will also be updated.
As much as they would love for the mobile payment gateway to be used by as many people as possible, there is always that barrier of devices and banks that support them, not to mention the availability in limited countries. Samsung Pay is only available in 19 countries including the UK, the US, China, South Korea, Australia, and Singapore.
VIA: Engadget
