Samsung Pay Beta launched in the U.S. and the payment service uses both magnetic fields and NFC chips to complete purchase transactions.
Who can use Samsung Pay Beta?
The beta program is on an invite-only basis program; however the company has started rolling out invitations. If you are interested to use the service and you own Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 Edge+, Galaxy S6 Edge or Galaxy S6; you can get your hands on the service before it goes live.
Samsung Pay beta is selectively available to the owners of the above mentioned devices and they must have an active Samsung account along with a qualifying credit or debit card from Bank of America, MasterCard, Visa or U.S. Bank Visa.
Qualifying Cards according to the company’s official website are:
“Bank of America consumer credit, debit cards, small business debit cards (owner card only), Merrill Lynch consumer credit cards, U.S. Trust consumer credit, debit cards, U.S. Bank consumer or small business Visa credit and debit cards, Elan Financial consumer or small business Visa credit card.”
All the major cellular service providers, including U.S. Cellular, T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T are supporting Samsung Pay, leaving Verizon, which is the only major carrier that is not supporting Samsung Pay.
If you want to use Samsung Pay Beta, you won’t have to pay a fee to join the program. Customers using the beta program of Samsung’s mobile payment system in the United States are encouraged to provide the feedback so that the company can improve the user experience of the service.
If you want to test drive Samsung Pay Beta before its formal release in the United States, you can sign up for the program on the company’s website, provided you meet all of the requirements. The South Korean giant is expected to launch the new payment service officially on September 28, 2015.