“The company also pointed to a ready market, citing Neilsen findings suggesting that in 2016, 29 percent of Canadians ‘actively used their smartphone to make mobile payments’.”

Royal Bank of Canada has become the latest major Canadian bank to offer support for Samsung Pay, Samsung’s biometrically secured mobile payments platform.

Samsung Pay first launched in the country toward the end of 2016, in cooperation with CIBC. In the autumn of last year, its support expanded, with Scotiabank and other financial services firms also enabling support for the platform. It was a similar pattern to that seen by Apple, whose Apple Pay platform made its Canadian debut in late 2015, but didn’t see wide support until half a year later.

In a statement announcing RBC’s support, Samsung asserted that Samsung Pay’s “[e]xpansion in Canada will continue as other partners join, including Tangerine and Peoples Card Services.” The company also pointed to a ready market, citing Neilsen findings suggesting that in 2016, 29 percent of Canadians “actively used their smartphone to make mobile payments”.

The company also emphasized the simplicity and security of its mobile payments platform, noting that it supports fingerprint and iris recognition together with tap-to-pay functionality – the latter being widely supported among Canadian merchants.