Imagine not needing to carry your stack of credit or debit cards in your wallet when you’re shopping. Or cash for that matter. Imagine having all that in one place – your smartphone. Well, now with Samsung Pay, you can.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Samsung together with Maybank rolled out beta trials of the Samsung Pay service in Malaysia. Maybank is in fact, the first bank to exclusively support Samsung Pay here, locally. This means that if you have a Maybank Visa Card and a compatible Samsung Galaxy Device, you can try out Samsung Pay ahead of its public launch.
So, what’s Samsung Pay and why is it a big deal?
Well, in a nutshell, Samsung Pay is a secure, easy-to-use mobile payment service that can be used to make purchases nearly everywhere. The great thing about the service is that it supports both Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) and Near Field Communication (NFC). It’s also available to all merchants with Visa payWave terminals. Samsung’s proprietary MST lets you make payment at older credit/debit card terminals. It does this by emulating a card swipe by wirelessly transmitting magnetic waves from your phone to the terminal.
So in essence, by merely carrying a supported Samsung smartphone, you’ll be able to make purchases at your favourite retail or F&B outlet. Simply swipe up from the Home button, authenticate with your fingerprint, then tapping on the payment terminal. Alternatively, you can also authenticate with a 4-digit PIN code.
Each transaction uses an encrypted digital token to replace your payment info for security. So rest assured, none of your payment details are stored on the phone.
Good news to Maybank Cardholders! Current supported cards during the Open Beta Testing period are Maybank Visa Cards (debit, credit and prepaid).
Sign up as a Samsung Pay Beta Tester
With your Maybank Visa Card, you can join me in being one of the FIRST to try Samsung Pay in Malaysia. Maybank is giving you the chance to test it yourself through the Beta Tester Program.
But you have to hurry and register by tomorrow to grab this exclusive chance! Go to www.maybank.com.my/spay to register.
Basic requirements to use Samsung Pay:
To use Samsung Pay, you need:
- A compatible Samsung device
- A supported payment card from a participating bank; as of today, it is Maybank Visa Cards
- A Samsung account
- Registered fingerprint or Samsung Pay PIN
- To be located in the country of the participating bank
Supported devices:
- Galaxy S6 edge+
- Galaxy S7
- Galaxy S7 edge
- Galaxy Note5
- Galaxy A7 (2016)
- Galaxy A5 (2016)
Putting it to the test
The Christmas and holiday shopping season was the perfect testing ground for Samsung Pay. Having registered as a Beta Tester earlier this month, I got things quickly set-up by adding my Maybank VISA Debit Card to Samsung Pay.
I used the service at several places in Mid Valley, The Gardens Mall and Bangsar Village where I shopped – Borders, Adidas, Kiehl’s, Jamaica Blue (coffee time!), Loccitane and The Village Grocer. The cool thing was that there was a combination of old and new terminals, and VISA payWave. It felt liberating, not having to pull out my wallet, wad of cash, or credit/debit card. Enjoy this convenience too when you sign up as a Beta Tester with Maybank today!
The future of payment is here
We’re just at the tip of the iceberg, but mobile payment is here. It’s a great start, and I can’t wait to see it support more cards, more terminals, more retailers and outlets.
Test it out yourself. Head over to www.maybank.com.my/spay.
