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| Samsung Electronics employees celebrate the 1 millionth subscriber to Samsung Pay two months after its release in this file photo, Sunday. / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics |
By Yoon Sung-won
Samsung Electronics said Sunday its mobile payment service Pay has attracted more than a million subscribers in two months.
"Samsung Pay has seen its subscriber base expand at a rapid pace," an official at Samsung Electronics said. "We will continue to make efforts to offer better services by developing more convenient, customer-centric functions and by providing marketing promotion events for the payment service."
Samsung Pay was officially launched in Korea on Aug. 20 and in the United States in Sept. 28. During the last two months, the company said its service has recorded more than 100,000 daily payments, one million subscribers and over 10 billion won in cumulative payments.
The company said Verizon joined the Samsung Pay platform Wednesday. Samsung Electronics said the participation of the leading mobile carrier in the United States is expected to accelerate the penetration of its service in the world's largest economy.
Samsung Electronics said such records are largely attributable to the popularity of its premium smartphones ― the Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6, S6 Edge and S6 Edge Plus.
"In particular, more than half of the customers who bought the Galaxy Note 5 have subscribed Samsung Pay, creating a mutual synergy effect between the company's handset and mobile platform service businesses," the company said.
Citing research, the company said users turned to Samsung Pay at convenience and department stores, supermarkets, cafes and restaurants. Accordingly, the amount of daily payments has increased to over 2 billion won, up from 800 million won when the service was first released.
Unlike many other similar payment services, Samsung Pay is designed to be compatible with conventional magnetic credit card readers. Thanks to its universality, Samsung Pay can also be used at traditional markets, automatic telling machines and online shopping websites, the company said.
Samsung Electronics plans to add membership card management and transportation card functions within the year to help users utilize the service more widely in their daily lives.
