The Apple Pay delay each day for Bendigo Bank customers now sees Samsung Pay in play, in what is great news for Samsung smartphone and smartwatch owners who bank with Bendigo.
Bendigo Bank was infamously part of the banking cartel trying to force Apple to change its payment ways, but the long wait for Samsung owners to play with Samsung Pay is finally over.
Samsung has announced that its “contactless mobile payments service, Samsung Pay, is now accessible for Bendigo Bank customers who have an eligible debit or credit card.”
Naturally, Samsung bills Samsung Pay as a “secure and easy-to-use mobile payments service available on compatible Samsung devices, including the Gear S3 smartwatch and the recently released Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphones.”
{loadposition alex08}The full list of compatible devices is as follows: "Samsung Pay is available on the Samsung Galaxy Note 5, S6, S6 edge, S6 edge+, A5, A7, S7, S7 edge, S8 and S8+. Compatible wearable devices include the Gear S2 and Gear S3 smartwatches. Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge do not support the MST functionality of Samsung Pay."
MST is the "magnetic stripe" function of Samsung Pay that allows you to simulate the old fashioned swiping of your card in a payment terminal that doesn't support the paywave/tap and go system, with some of those types of terminals still in Australia and presuambly still plenty in the US, but as long as your Samsung smarphone is newer than the S6 ot S6 Edge, it looks like you'll be fine.
Also - while the Note 8 is not yet “officially released,” its arrival in retail stores has been publicised to be 22 September, and you’d have to imagine that if the S8 and S8+ are fully Samsung Pay compatible, so too will be the Note8.
Why we have to pretend the Note 8 doesn’t exist yet in the list of compatible devices even though there was a giant presentation in New York streamed to everyone wanting to watch planet-wide, is one of the little mysteries of life that probably even a very large payment via a Samsung Pay transaction presumably can’t elicit an answer to.
In any case, Mark Hodgson, Head of Products and Services at Samsung Electronics Australia, said: “We are pleased to offer Bendigo Bank’s 1.6 million customers across Australia more choice when it comes to payments.
“Whether purchasing a coffee on-the-go or earning and redeeming loyalty points from their favourite retailer, Bendigo Bank customers can now enjoy a safe, secure and convenient service all at the click of button.”
Bendigo Bank’s Chief Customer Officer, Marnie Baker, noted the app offered customers greater choice and flexibility in how they make payments.
Baker said: “Our customers will be able to use Samsung Pay wherever contactless payments are accepted, meaning even more convenience in their everyday life.
"With technology evolving at a rapid pace we want to ensure we're delivering, and partnering with other innovative organisations like Samsung to give our customers greater choice and the flexibility they’re looking for."
With the addition of Bendigo Bank, Samsung proudly boasts that “Samsung Pay has now paired with over 40 payment card brands and has over 100 different types of loyalty cards loaded onto Samsung Pay – helping to make everyday payments and loyalty point collections simple and secure. Other Samsung Pay partners include AMEX, Citibank, Westpac, Cuscal and ANZ.”
Bendigo Bank’s Samsung Pay page is here.
More information from Samsung about Samsung Pay is here.
