Samsung Pay finally launches in UK

Samsung Pay is now available to Visa credit and debit cardholders who bank with MBNA, Nationwide and Santander and Mastercard cardholders with MBNA and Santander. The service can be used on the Galaxy S8/S8+, S7/S7 edge, S6/S6 edge (subject to a software update) and will become available on additional devices in the coming months.

Kevin Jenkins, Regional Managing Director, UK and Ireland, Visa, comments: “Today’s launch of Samsung Pay gives Visa account holders a mobile payment solution that enables safe and easy contactless in-store payments with their Samsung mobile. The phone is the one item people always have with them and Visa supports payment solutions that fit people’s changing lifestyles.”

Samsung Pay has been available in the US since September 2015, and Samsung originally planned a UK launch in 2016. It  will go head-to-head with Apple Pay and Android Pay and has some catching up to do with its already firmly established rivals. It uses not only NFC (like Apple and Android Pay) but also MST, the tech used by magnetic strip cards, so the service also works with older payment terminals that don't support contactless.