‘Samsung Pay Mini’
Samsung Electronics will launch 'Samsung Pay Mini', an easy mobile payment service that can be used not only on its Galaxy smartphones but also on any mobile phones loaded with the Android operating system (OS). Thus, Google's Android Pay, which is about to enter the Korean market, and LG Electronics' LG Pay to be launched soon, are expected to heat up mobile pay service competition with Samsung Pay and Samsung Pay Mini.
Samsung Electronics announced on February 2 that it will launch the Samsung Pay Mini service, which can be used on Android-based smartphones, in the first quarter of this year. Samsung Pay is currently available only on Samsung's Galaxy S7 Series, Galaxy S6 Series, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7.
When Samsung Pay Mini is launched, users of others smartphones will be able to download and use the advanced payment even if their smartphones are based on Android 5.0 Lollipop or higher and have HD (1280 × 720) or better displays. Samsung Pay Mini supports existing Samsung Pay features such as online payment, membership, and transportation charge payment. However, off-line payment will be made through existing Samsung Pay only.
As the Samsung Pay service becomes available on smartphones of other makers, competition for simple payment services based on the Android operating system (OS) is expected to become still tougher.
Samsung Pay Mini is expected to fight a duel with Google's soon-to-be-launched Android Pay. Android Pay began in the US and land in the UK, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, and Japan. It is reported that Google is considering launching Android Pay in Korea soon. Android Pay, regardless of smartphone manufacturers, is compatible with devices powered by Android OS version 4.4 or later, which is a big strength of Android Pay. Samsung is also expected to go head to head with Android Pay by overcoming its hardware limitations by way of Samsung Pay Mini.
LG Electronics' LG Pay is also going to join the mobile payment service war, which is expected to create a three-runner race in the Korean smartphone-based payment service market. LG Electronics will unveil its new model 'G6' and LG Pay in Spain on February 26. It is predicted that LG Pay will be very similar to Samsung Pay which uses near field communication (NFC) and magnetic security transfer (MST) technology instead of the white card method which includes a simple payment function in a plastic card.