Samsung Pay to launch in Australia in 2016

Samsung has had a relatively quiet CES in terms of Mobile, though with an expected Unpacked 2016 event in Spain around MWC for the Galaxy S7 (and whatever variants they have as well), it’s understandable. There was news regarding the Gear S2 and they also advised some new launch markets for Samsung Pay.

Samsung will launch Samsung Pay in Australia later this year, alongside Brazil and Singapore, though exactly when it will launch has not been announced. Samsung will enable Samsung Pay on their Tizen based Gear S2 smartwatch in early 2016 in their launch markets of South Korea and the US, which means it will be ready for Australia when it launches here.

Samsung has traditionally had ties with both Westpac and the Commonwealth Bank when it comes to launching banking solutions, launching Tap & Pay compatablity with the Galaxy S4 and S5 with both banks. Westpac has been announced as supporting Android Pay when it arrives in Australia this year, though the Commonwealth Bank has remained quiet, this could be because of a pending partnership with Samsung, but so far nothing has been announced.

Samsung Pay, which uses technology they gained from their purchase of Loop Pay, also allows users to use magnetic stripe readers as opposed to the NFC based contactless payment systems, though with the proliferation of contactless payment terminals in Australia, this is less of a problem for consumers than in most markets.

It’s going to be a big year for Tap & Pay, contactless payments in Australia with Google launching Android Pay in Australia as the first market outside the US. Apple is also trying to bring their Apple Pay solution to Australia, however they have only been able to successfully negotiate a partnership with American Express in Australia, while other banks have chosen to partner with Google on Android Pay.

Samsung will have more to announce regarding partnerships and availability for Samsung Pay closer to the launch.