Samsung Pay Adds 8 New Issuers, Including Chase (Dec. 2, 2015)
Samsung Pay has expanded its roster of supported payment cards with the addition of eight new card issuers. Most notable among the new partners was Chase; the bank’s credit, debit and Liquid prepaid cards now are compatible with Samsung Pay. The other newly supported cards include MasterCard-branded debit and credit cards from the following issuers: Citizens Equity First Credit Union, Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union, Security Service Federal Credit Union, State Employees’ Credit Union, SunTrust and Virginia Credit Union. Visa-branded credit and debit cards issued by Navy Federal Credit Union rounded out the new additions.
Adding to its list of supported cards should only help Samsung Pay, which has gotten off to a fast start in the U.S. and South Korea since being launched in those markets earlier this year. Ubiquity is central to Samsung Pay’s value proposition; the service—which is backward compatible with existing POS terminals—is accepted at 95 percent of all U.S. in-store payment locations, according to Samsung. That widespread acceptance gives the service a leg up on Apple Pay, which got nearly a year’s head start on Samsung Pay but doesn’t have as large a merchant acceptance footprint. Samsung Pay also is facing competition from other in-store mobile services, including Android Pay and bank-provided services from Capital One and Chase (coming in 2016)—though the latter institution also is among Samsung Pay’s new issuing partners. In late October, Samsung Pay bolstered its gifting capabilities, announcing it would support Blackhawk Network’s partner gift cards. The company also reportedly is exploring the addition of a P2P transfer service to Samsung Pay.
Related stories:
