Awkward Timing for India Launch of Samsung Pay

Samsung has officially launched its mPayment platform in India.

The development arrives after considerable speculation, with an Android update delivering the Samsung Pay app and an “Early Access” program having generated some buzz over the service ahead of its launch. It has now gone live for those individuals who did sign up for the Early Access program, with Axis, HDFC, ICICI, SBI, and Standard Chartered bank cards supported, including Mastercard and Visa cards. Citibank support, meanwhile, is in the pipeline.

The platform arrives in the country at an awkward time. IDFC Bank has just launched its Aadhaar Pay mobile app, allowing merchants to accept payments on their smartphones without the need for customers to use their own smartphone or even a payment card. The transactions are authorized through the Aadhaar national ID program using biometric authentication, and given the extensive reach of Aadhaar in India and its growing number of applications, the platform could rapidly come to dominate the payments sector.

Still, Samsung Pay is the only one of the major global mPayment platforms to launch in the county so far, and it has also been integrated into the popular Paytm mobile app, so it otherwise arrives with some considerable competitive advantages that could help it to gain a foothold before Aadhaar Pay takes off.

Source: SamMobile