Samsung to Introduce Mobile Wallet in India

Samsung to launch its mobile wallet payment services through Samsung app

India: Samsung, a South Korean multinational conglomerate, recently announced to launch its payment wallet facility through inbuilt Samsung app available in their latest smartphones. After being a spectator of Apple services ecosystem “Apple Pay” for years, the Korean tech giant took a dig to compete with its arch-rival by providing mobile wallet facility which can be availed at any coffee shop, restaurant etc.

Samsung started testing the service in India near December 2016 and rolled out the Samsung Pay App in Galaxy Note5 smartphone. The company partnered with American bank and is exploring more options including Visa and MasterCard for their services. Samsung Pay will support MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission) which allows customer to send magnetic signal from smartphone to payment terminal’s card reader.    

Though, Samsung Pay works with high-end premium Samsung smartphones, the company is looking at technological advancement to build the mobile wallet feature in low cost handset to gain traction among users.           

TechSci Research depicts that post demonetisation, mobile wallet market is witnessing a tremendous growth with new mobile wallet providers such as Phonepe, BHIM etc. providing online payment services in India, which shows that mobile wallet market holds untapped potential in the coming years.

According to the recent report published by TechSci Research, “India Mobile Wallet Market Forecast and Opportunities, 2020”, the mobile wallet market in India is forecast to reach US$ 6.6 billion by 2020. Growing awareness regarding the benefits of mobile wallets, rising smartphone and mobile internet penetration rates, and increasing security measures are expected to drive growth in India mobile wallet market. In 2014, Tier-I cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Pune, etc., registered the highest number of mobile wallet users in the country, while Tier II cities such as Jaipur, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Indore, Patna, etc. are emerging cities in terms of mobile wallet usage. Banking accounted for the largest end user sector in the country’s mobile wallet market in 2014, followed by retail, telecom and transportation sectors. Few of the leading companies operating in India mobile wallet market include One97 Communication Pvt. Ltd., MobiKwik and ItzCash.