Soft Thai launch of Samsung Pay today
SAMSUNG has announced the preliminary launch of Samsung Pay in Thailand with major financial and retail partners.
The preliminary service, which will be available for registered users, will go live from today and run through November 16 when the full service launches.
Of the first 3,000 participating users, those with the highest frequency of Samsung Pay transactions between this Thursday and November 23 will receive a complimentary 5,100mAh (milliamp-hour) fast-charge battery pack, which retails for Bt1,590.
Samsung Pay’s expansion to Thailand will bring the convenience of the service to 10 countries by the end of this year, after recent launches into Malaysia and Russia, the Korean company says.
During the preliminary launch, consumers will be able to use Samsung Pay at three major Thai credit-card issuers – KTC Credit Card, Citibank and Siam Commercial Bank – with payments processed through Visa and MasterCard to ensure seamless transaction processing.
When Samsung Pay goes full-service, customers will also be able to use it at a further three banks – Kasikornbank, Bank of Ayudhya and Bangkok Bank – with payments processed through Visa and MasterCard.
To use the service, customers simply need to open the Samsung Pay app and tap their compatible Samsung smartphone against an NFC (near field communication) or MST (magnetic secure transmission) reader to make a payment.
“We’re excited to bring Samsung Pay to Thailand and, in doing so, offer a simple, secure and convenient service that enhances the mobile-payments experience,” said Wichai Pornpratang, corporate vice president of IT and mobile communications at Thai Samsung Electronics.
“The platform has garnered strong consumer interest and adoption across markets in Asia, and we look forward to bringing it to market in Thailand.”
Samsung says it has developed a strong network of partners in Thailand to ensure that users will be able to take advantage of mobile payments with a significant and growing number of retailers.
Samsung Pay users can use their compatible devices – including the Galaxy S7, S7 edge, S6 edge+, Note5, A7 (2016) and A5 (2016) – to make payments at most shopping malls.
