NFC Expert What Samsung Pay is used for
The service allows you to turn a smartphone into the equivalent of one or more bank cards, allowing you to pay for goods and services both in supermarkets, cafes or transport, and when making purchases via the Internet.
A kind of electronic wallet, protected from other people’s raking paws.
It is especially captivating that for payment you can use not only NFC terminals, but also those that work with a credit card magnetic stripe.
Only antique devices, in which the whole card has to be inserted, are not able to work with the service.
What devices does Samsung Pay work on?
You can pay for a purchase with a smartphone if you have the following gadget models:
- Galaxy S7 edge
- Galaxy S6 edge
- Galaxy Note5
- Galaxy A5
- Galaxy A7
- As well as smart watch Samsung Gear s3
If you are a happy owner of one of these smartphones, then Samsung Pay is at your service. It remains only to update the firmware of the device to the latest version.
After updating the update, you should select the mode of adding “plastic” or take a photo of the card with automatic recognition of the digital code. The easiest option is to enter numbers manually.
Having filled in the fields with the name and surname, expiration date and a three-digit verification code on the back of the credit card, we draw a personal signature with a finger in a special window, such as on the card. The smart gadget contacts the database of your bank, checking the relevance of the information. If the check is successful, the map appears on the screen. Its appearance is the same as in reality, including background images.
From now on, the virtual card is in combat readiness, the edge of the “plastic” is visible at the bottom of the screen. You can call the card to pay for purchases with a swipe, from bottom to top. The service settings help to set a default credit card, if there are several of them, as well as a type of payment protection – a fingerprint or a pin code. It is safest to choose the first option.
A special module is built into the smartphone, which allows data transfer at a distance of several tenths of a meter. Allowing the purchase, you bring the gadget to the terminal, and that’s it. The further process is the business of the bank, you have nothing to delve into it. The main thing is that it is ultra-safe and extremely fast. A few fractions of a second – the purchase is made, you are happy to go home.
Samsung Pay – how to use
Before using the system for cashless payments, you need to configure the program. Only this will allow transactions to be made. Application setup instructions step by step looks like this:
- Launch the app on your mobile device.
- Create a PIN code to confirm your actions when paying for purchases or add your fingerprint.
- Click on the map image or the “Add” button.
- Take a photo of the bank payment instrument or manually enter the product details.
- Click the “Next” button.
- Accept the terms of the service agreement.
- Enter the password from the SMS message and click on the inscription “Send”.
- Make a signature on the screen.
The registration process usually takes no more than 10 minutes. The procedure will be successful only if the plastic card is equipped with an NFC chip.
There are not so many models in Russia that allow you to work with Samsung Pay. First of all, this is the Galaxy S line, starting with the S6. Note 5 became the oldest gadget from the Note line supporting the service.
From the more modest A family, all devices from 2017 and A5 and A7 (2016) are listed. All of them, except S6 and S6 edge, support both contactless payment options.
The above smartphones can only work with
– MST technology is not available to them.
In addition, owners of NFC-only Samsung Gear S2 and Gear Sport smartwatches, and Gear S3 smartwatches, for which both options are available, can also pay using this PS.
Rooted smartphones cannot be used for payment. As for models from other manufacturers that can work with Samsung Pay, there are none at the moment.
And it is unlikely that the company will give someone the opportunity to use Samsung Knox technology in their gadgets, which ensures the security of using the PS.
Samsung Pay, like Apple Pay, supports a fairly large number of banks and smartphone versions. This allows a large number of users in Russia to install a mobile application. The company does not charge a commission for using the service. Here we consider in detail what the mobile payment service from Samsung is, what cards Samsung Pay works with, how to use mobile software.
Is it safe?
Rumors about the risks of using Samsung Pay as a contactless payment method are spread by people who, as a rule, do not have such smartphones. Especially ridiculous are the speculations about double debits and scammers with “hacker devices”. Nonsense, pure water, from unenlightened people.
Even if your smartphone is stolen or lost, no one will be able to use your virtual card. Without the owner’s fingerprint, it is impossible to access payments.
To better understand that nothing will happen to the data, just imagine that inside the phone there is just a duplicate of your card, and the fingerprint is a pin code. No card works without a pin code, and payment in Samsung Pay is impossible without a user’s fingerprint.
Features of work
Samsung Pay works on the smartphones of the Korean company. In this service, you will pay for various services on Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy S8, Galaxy J5 and other models only.
By now, most of the major financial organizations in Russia are already working with the service. Among them are Sberbank, VTB24, Tinkoff, Alfa-Bank, and many others.
To find out if a card can be linked to a gadget, you can find a complete list of banks on the official Samsung website.
At the moment, the following banks cooperate with Samsung Pay in our country:
- Alfa-Bank
- MTS-Bank
- VTB
- Russian Standard
- Raiffeisenbank
- Sberbank
The list promises to expand every month, you need to follow this in the news, social networks and our blog. Progressive banks are always among the first to cooperate with the technologies of the future, and Alfa-Bank is no exception. We ran to the nearest branch and checked, indeed, the service is working.
To decide whether it is worth working with such a bank, but this is our subjective opinion. Usually this issue is a matter of prioritization. For example, Alfa-Bank is a large and reliable credit institution that does not shy away from anything new and progressive. By the way, the first Internet banking in our country appeared precisely at Alpha, many then doubted whether such a service was needed. Now every self-respecting user cannot do without it. The same situation is happening now with Samsung Pay.
Alfa-Bank credit cards are created for every taste. Among them, two stand out with an interesting program: “Cashback” and “100 days without%”. One of them does not accrue interest on any purchases for as long as 100 days, and the other brings a favorable percentage of return, from each item or service purchased. And with an Alfa-Bank Russian Railways card, a bonus in the form of points, which you can then use to travel, is returned after every 30 rubles spent.
Can criminals steal funds?
Authorization is required to make any financial transaction using Samsung Pay. If a fingerprint scanner is used in this capacity, then scammers have no chance, even if they manage to steal the smartphone itself.
If a pin code is used, then theoretically it can be spied on in public places.
As for communication channels, everything is no less reliable there. The card details are not stored in the smartphone, they are located on the server of the payment system.
Instead, a unique token is used for each transaction – a randomly generated sequence of symbols.
You should also keep in mind the presence of the KNOX system in Samsung devices, which checks the firmware of the device before registration.
In the presence of rooting, malicious applications or other third-party interference, card binding will become impossible, and the application itself will be blocked.
Cons
- Not intended for use on third party devices (Samsung only);
- On “weak” devices, launching the application may cause a “sag” in performance (KNOX audit uses the device’s processor resource, and you cannot turn it off);
- Does not work in all countries (among the CIS countries – only in Russia);
- Sellers of small shops, as a rule, are not familiar with this concept of mutual settlements (the terminal can accept, but people will have to “explain for a long time”);
- When making NFC payments, money will be “transferred” even without the Internet, but they will “fall” on the card only when the connection to the network is resumed.
Advantages of the payment system
- Fast and easy payments.
- The inability to steal funds from the card in one way or another.
- The ability to use both NFC and conventional terminals thanks to proprietary MST technology.
- Support for loyalty programs, thanks to which the user receives bonuses and discounts.
Disadvantages
- A very limited number of models supporting the service.
- Inability to use customized firmware.
Infographics
All your card details in Samsung Pay are securely protected. In addition, the system can emulate the magnetic stripe of the card – this allows you to use it even where contactless payment does not work.
Already using Samsung Pay or planning to? You can leave your opinion and share your experience of using it in the comments.
In closing
The service could compete with Apple Pay before
, which can be installed on any devices with this OS, including Samsung ones.
True, in this case, you will need to turn off the KNOX system. On the other hand, Xiaomi is already creating its own PS, despite the appearance of Google.
It is not yet clear how the situation on the contactless payment market will develop in general if each large company launches its own service.
But in any case, it is too convenient for users to ignore this opportunity to get rid of extra credit cards and at the same time increase security when paying.