• Service powered by Visa tokenisation to enable simple and secure mobile payments
• 94% of UK 18-24 years olds already use their mobile device for banking and payment services

With today’s launch of Samsung Pay, UK Visa account holders can now use their compatible Samsung smartphones for purchases worldwide. Visa’s tokenisation service enables cardholders to add their Visa credit and debit cards quickly and easily to the Samsung Pay wallet and pay in a secure and convenient way at contactless point-of-sale terminals. Samsung Pay is now available to Visa cardholders who bank with MBNA, Nationwide and Santander.

When a consumer loads their card into Samsung Pay, the app uses Visa tokenisation to replace the consumer’s sensitive account information with a different series of numbers – a “token” – that is specific to that card and device. Payments are made using the token so that the card information is never exposed, adding another layer of safety to digital payments. If the phone is compromised or stolen, the token cannot be used in any other environment and can easily be deactivated without requiring the Visa account to be cancelled.

Kevin Jenkins, Regional Managing Director, UK and Ireland, Visa, commented: “Today’s launch of Samsung Pay gives Visa account holders a mobile payment solution that enables safe and easy contactless in-store payments with their Samsung mobile. The phone is the one item people always have with them and Visa supports payment solutions that fit people’s changing lifestyles.”

Mobile Payment gets more popular

Visa’s 2016 Digital Payment study shows that there is high consumer demand for mobile payment solutions in the UK, with over 94% of the UK’s 18-24 years olds already using their mobile device to monitor their money or make payments. In fact, Visa predicts that payments from mobile devices will comprise 50% of all worldwide transactions by 2020. According to the study, more than four in ten people in the UK use their phones to pay bills (42 percent), buy takeaway food (45 percent), and pay for bus or train tickets (41 percent). 

Visa in Samsung Pay

To pay, simply swipe up on the phone’s screen to select your Visa card of choice and confirm the payment via fingerprint, iris scan or passcode. With the Smartwatch Gear S3 the payment can be started with a touch of a button. The authorisation is conducted via passcode when putting on the Smartwatch. To complete the payment, simply tap the device on any contactless enabled POS terminals to pay contactless with as you would with your Visa card. Payments are confirmed immediately with a message sent to the Samsung device. Merchants that already accept contactless payment do not need to update their terminals to accept payments with Samsung Pay nor will there be any additional cost for the merchant or the Visa cardholder since the transaction is a Visa card transaction.

With the Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, Samsung Pay* can be used to touch and pay wherever Visa contactless debit cards or credit cards are accepted.