Samsung Pay Launches Beta On Invite-Only Basis
Samsung Pay, the Korean company's mobile payment platform, will be launching on September 28 in the U.S. In preparation for the launch, Samsung announced last August 27 that it will be conducting a limited public beta of the platform, a month before the actual launch. According to a report in Tech Times, smartphone users who want to try and see how the system works can join the beta.
The public beta however is limited as it is by-invite only and so far, only those who have Samsung's newest devices – the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Galaxy Note 5 – are qualified to receive invites and join the said beta.
Other requirements for beta testers, according to the report, are having an active Samsung account as well as a "qualifying card from Visa, MasterCard, Bank of America or U.S. Bank Visa." In particular, these cards are consumer credit, debit cards and small business debit cards from Bank of America, consumer credit and debit cards from U.S. Trust, U.S. Bank consumer or small business Visa credit and debit cards and Elan Financial consumer or small business Visa credit cards.
Aside from these requirements, users must also note that not all U.S. mobile carriers provide support for Samsung Pay. While AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular have said that they will participate in the new mobile payment system, Verizon has said that they are not yet supporting Samsung Pay and that they are "still evaluating it." According to another report in Quartz, it is not yet known whether Verizon will announce its support come September 28.
Once users meet the above-mentioned requirements, they can sign up for the beta program on the Samsung website. The Tech Times report cited that those who are invited to join do not need to pay any joining fee nor will they be paid for taking part in the beta. Users are naturally asked to share their experience with the mobile payment platform to address further improvements that Samsung can make.
Samsung Pay is set to compete against Apple Pay, the mobile payment system that is compatible with iOS, which is considered to be "a tightly-controlled operating system."
