Wave N Pay: Samsung-Visa Mobile Application

You will soon see Samsung phones preloaded with Visa paywave applets, which will allow consumers to make contactless payments via visa’s payment terminals, Courtesy: Samsung and Visa’s global coalition announced on February, 26th 2013.

Visa payWave service will be available only on selected Samsung devices. If rumours are to be believed, Samsung Galaxy- S4, the forthcoming edition of Samsung Galaxy, will be the first to be equipped with paywave applet which will enable customers to make payments via NFC (Near Field Communication) technology. The bank’s mobile payment program will also enable the customers to securely download and access account information on their phones.

Jim McCarthy, the global head of visa said that “Samsung devices enabled with Visa payment functionality will no doubt be a powerful product offering especially in markets where paying with a mobile device is becoming commonplace,” Visa’s contactless payments increased fourfold last year and according to ABI’s forecast, approximately 1.95 billion devices will be shipped by 2017.

According to Eden Zoller, Ovum consumer analyst, this deal is significant and capable of giving a much needed boost to NFC as both Samsung and Visa are trusted and leading brands in their respective fields. It is also interesting that Ovum’s latest survey was not very encouraging as mobile commerce related apps were low on their list compared to mobile games, social networking and email.

The coalition between Samsung and Visa is a first of its own kind which will expand consumers choice in terms of NFC payments.

The Wave N Pay trend will surely give a robust boost to NFC – Vending Machines!

By John Apostolides

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