Samsung is expanding the functionality of its mobile payments service, Samsung Pay, to include the ability to let users withdraw cash at automated teller machines (ATMs). Samsung made the announcement at the two-day Samsung Developer Conference 2016 taking place in San Francisco, California.
Allowing users to withdraw money from ATMs using Samsung Pay will come in handy in cases where one has forgotten their ATM card. When finally available to everyone using the service, the feature could be a big differentiator between it and other mobile payments services like Apple Pay.
At the moment, Samsung Pay can be used to make payments for services offered at various stores in the countries where it is available: the United States, Korea and China.
Compatriot and rival LG has also been said to be working on its own mobile payments solution. Here’s the interesting twist: unlike in the case of Samsung Pay where the service is wholly reliant on a smartphone, LG’s solution is said to make use of a plastic card that can also be used at ATMs.
Only users of Samsung Pay in Samsung’s home country, Korea, will be able to take advantage of the new feature at first. Korea’s Woori Bank will be the first to allow its card holders to use their smartphones for cash withdrawals.
Samsung is expected to expand the availability of Samsung Pay to more countries later in the year among them Canada, Singapore, Brazil, Australia, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Via Sammobile
