Samsung Pay: A Brief General User Perspective
Wordy Introduction
Contrary to what I may believe, I am part of a niche group. I wouldn't say I am a super user; however, I am very tech savvy. I can grasp new technology fairly quickly and my patience threshold is high regarding exploring (discovering) features and caveats. Alas, not every person who owns or wishes to own new technology is like me; some people are eager to use new technology, but they don't want to think about it. They want it to do what you tell them it can do; and that's it.
There are a multitude of mobile payment options: Google Wallet (soon to be Android Pay), Apple Pay, PayPal, Square, LevelUp, MCX, a host of others and now Samsung Pay. MCX and LevelUp are QR Code based, PayPal and Square utilize mobile apps as well as card readers that plug into the headphone jack of mobile devices and Google, Apple, and Samsung use NFC. What makes Samsung Pay slightly different is the inclusion of MST. Samsung acquired MST technology when they bought the company Loop, Inc. Loop had technology that emulated the magnetic stripe on your credit/debit cards. There was a dongle as well as an iPhone case. Though the technology worked, the hardware was clunky at best. It wasn't as seamless as NFC, and people don't even use that as much as they should. Thankfully, Samsung saw the value of Loop and acquired them before Apple, Google, Microsoft, or Amazon could. [If I were Samsung, I would not license this technology; it would far more feasible to embed it into an accessory. They would make a lot of money]. Unsurprisingly, they bundled it into their future devices; the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 Edge+, and I'm sure the Gear S2 and other wearables. I have a Galaxy Note 5, so I will speak to my experience with that device.
Use Case
A common question is “I have a wallet with my credit/debit cards; what the hell do I need a mobile phone version for? “ Granted, the question is valid; however, there is a lot of value in mobile payments. Personally, I want to reduce the amount of stuff I lug in my pockets. I've managed to get it down to keys and my wallet with just a few items within it. There have been times that I have forgotten my wallet and thankfully options from Google and PayPal worked; but not every place has NFC terminals or PayPal partnerships. Samsung Pay, for me, has been a catalyst. I almost will never forget my phone so that is a plus in the mobile wallet column. When I need to use NFC payments, I use Android Pay, everything else is Samsung Pay; unique situations notwithstanding.
Below is a list of successful and unsuccessful uses of Samsung Pay.
Successful
Brooklyn Harvest (204 Union Ave, Brooklyn, NY)
Rite Aid (723-725 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY)
Pathmark (1720 Eastchester Rd., Bronx, NY)
Met Food (385 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY)
Met Food (131 Driggs Ave, Brooklyn, NY)
Met Food (131 Driggs Ave, Brooklyn, NY)
Unsuccessful
Oddfellows Ice Cream (175 Kent Ave, Brooklyn, NY)