By now, all of us are familiar with Samsung Pay. Launched by Samsung at the MWC only a few days ago as part of the pre loaded software on Galaxy S6, the brand new payment system has already begun making waves and apparently is making other big players nervous. Only take how Google acquired Softcard with more than its customary energy as soon as Samsung’s decision to acquire and directly use LoopPay caught the light as an example.
Well, going by what we heard only recently, Samsung seems to be enjoying keeping its competitors-to-be on their toes as according to a latest report straight out of Korea stipulates that Samsung Pay won’t be charging a transaction fee.
Almost all other similar services offer a transaction fee of somewhere around 0.0015% of the amount being moved — Apple Pay for one — and while 0.0015% doesn’t sound all that much, for large amounts or even for multiple transactions, it does acquire some significance. Samsung thus is executing a masterstroke as it always has the option to introduce the fees at some point in the future, however for now its free. Add to it the fact that it does not require any dedicated systems and in fact will work anywhere magnetic stripe credit and debit cards are accepted, and its easy to see why it may have its competitors worried.
However, we are still not certain how it will have a bearing upon Samsung Pay’s outlook for the rest of the world, although reading between the lines one could say that this null transaction scheme is likely to extend to the US as well since Samsung has Apple Pay to contend with here and it makes at least just as much — if not more — sense to offer perks like free payment as it does to offer them in Korea.
Well, that’s all for now, but we will be sure to keep you updated.
