Samsung Pay Purchases Quadrupled in Its Second Year

Samsung is celebrating a big new benchmark for its mobile payment platform: The company has announced that Samsung Pay has processed 10 trillion won, or about $8.77 billion, in transactions in South Korea since its launch in 2015.

It’s a particularly significant figure because it points to a rapidly escalating rate of growth. Samsung said the service had processed two trillion won in payments at its one-year anniversary, so its use seems to have quadrupled in the ensuing year. That seems to reflect growth for the mobile payments market more broadly, with Juniper Research having predicted at the start of this year that mobile wallet spending around the world would rise 32 percent in 2017, with PayPal leading the pack.

Also notable is the fact that Samsung says 30 percent of Samsung Pay’s transactions were done online, meaning that for many users it’s replacing their physical credit cards not just when they’re shopping in stores, but also when they’re shopping on their computers or laptops.

Going forward, Samsung Pay could be in for even more explosive growth, with a recent report suggesting that Samsung is considering helping to deliver the system to rival companies’ smartphones, a move that could help it to eclipse rival Apple Pay, which is restricted to the Apple ecosystem.

Sources: The Korea Herald, Yonhap News Agency