Samsung Pay debuts in Europe with its launch in Spain. Spain is the first country on the continent to introduce the service, following successful launches in South Korea, the United States and China. Samsung claims that it is also the first mobile payments service of its kind to be launched in the Spanish market.
The service is already made available for customers of CaixaBank and imaginBank with users now being able to download their CaixaBank and imaginBank debit or credit cards on their smartphones to be used as mediums of payment. The service will soon will be available for customers of other banks, namely Abanca and Banco Sabadell, according to Samsung.
Samsung Pay said that it offers three layers of security, ease-of-use and the option to pay at any location with a contactless point-of-sale (POS) terminal. Using the service does not incur an additional cost for users as well as businesses as all they simply need is an NFC-compatible POS terminal. Users meanwhile, can add up to 10 cards to the application, without incurring additional charges from their banks, said Samsung Pay.
Victor Kim, Global Director, Samsung Pay Samsung operates an open model of partnership and collaboration to deliver the best possible customer experience. With Samsung Pay, we’re confident that we’re providing Spanish customers with the mobile payments service that they’re looking for.
Celestino García, Corporate Vice President, Samsung Spain The opportunity for Samsung Pay in Spain is significant, due to the high smartphone penetration rate and the digitalisation of the banking sector. Moreover, according to recent research commissioned by Samsung, nearly six in 10 Spaniards are interested in incorporating a secure, simple and widely accepted payments service like Samsung Pay into their lives.
