Samsung Pay early access program launches in Hong Kong

Samsung has launched an early access program for Samsung Pay in Hong Kong, in collaboration with local banks.

Customers with American Express, Citibank, Dah Sing Bank and Standard Chartered Bank cards are able to register to participate in the early access program.

The service is expected to launch more widely in the second quarter, adding support for other card issuers including Bank of China (Hong Kong).

Samsung Pay is a mobile payment system that supports both NFC and Samsung’s own Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technologies.

It uses three levels of security – biometric authentication, card tokenization and the Samsung Knox mobile security platform, as well as the ability for users to lock or wipe Samsung Pay remotely should their phone be lost or stolen.

To date, Samsung pay has launched in 12 markets worldwide and is in early access in a further four. Over 240 million transactions have been processed by Samsung Pay in the past 18 months.

Samsung has partnered with payment technology companies American Express, Mastercard and Visa for the mobile payment service.

“As a global leader in information technology, Samsung has always aspired to create better and more fulfilling experiences for our users through meaningful innovations,” Samsung VP and head of IT and mobile communications Yiyin Zhao said.

“We hope to offer our consumers a payment service that is truly safe, simple, and widely-accepted. We are also thankful for the support of Mastercard. Together, we are creating a more complete payment experience, further enhanced with promotions, to bring mobile payments capability to more users than ever before.”

Mastercard division president for Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan said a recent survey by the payment card company indicates that more than four in 10 Hong Kong consumers have made purchases via their mobile device in the past three months.

“This partnership demonstrates Mastercard’s commitment to delivering innovative solutions for the rapidly evolving mobile payments space,” he said.

Compatible Samsung Pay devices include the Galaxy S8+, Galaxy S8, Galaxy S7 edge, Galaxy S7, Galaxy S6 edge+ and Galaxy Note5, with more compatible devices due to launch soon.