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Google Wallet vs. Samsung Pay: Which tap to pay system is best?
There are some subtle and not-so-subtle differences
Our smartphones have become indispensable digital wallets, and we no longer need to carry physical cards. With Google Wallet and Samsung Pay at the top of the tap-to-pay landscape, choosing the best fit for your needs can be a puzzle. Both apps work on most Android phones and our favorite Android smartwatches. Picking the right one depends on your needs.
Samsung Wallet is ready for back-to-school with new support for university student IDs
Students from schools like Penn State and the University of Florida can store their IDs on the app
For college students, being on the go is a way of life — and that means remembering to take their student ID along with them. Over the past few years, apps like Google Wallet have started giving students the ability to add IDs to their phones' digital wallet. Schools have been doing their part, too, building infrastructure around campuses to promote using digital IDs, like NFC dorm room locks and classroom check-ins. This week, Samsung starts getting in on the action, as Samsung Wallet adds support for student IDs at select colleges around the US.
Samsung Wallet is expanding support for mobile payments to these 13 countries
More convenience for more people
Earlier this year, Samsung made good on its plans to make Samsung Pay and Samsung Pass more versatile by having them move in together. Using the Samsung Wallet app, the company hopes to make it easier to access all your virtual IDs, passes, and cards in one place. The app is available in eight countries already, but a new wave featuring 13 more countries is set to kick off by the end of this year.
Samsung Pay starts playing nicely again with the company's smartwatches
The fix ends panic over making wearable payments when using a non-Samsung phone
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Samsung doesn't just make some of the most popular Android hardware out there, but also a lot of popular software. While sometimes compatibility is limited to the company's own devices, apps like Samsung Internet and Samsung Health offer a glimpse of its ecosystem to outsiders. Even though it can be frustrating when certain features or apps are inaccessible on other devices, at least Samsung is usually clear about compatibility requirements. And that's why we're so curious about a number of recent reports that have been popping up, pointing to problems with Samsung's mobile payment service.
New Samsung Wallet combines the best of Pay and Pass into one less confusing app
Samsung follows Google's lead by putting payments, IDs, passwords, and more in one place
Last month, Google streamlined its payment platforms, transforming the legacy version of Pay — which is still used in most of the world — into Wallet. It's a rebranded application designed to go beyond the limits of simple credit cards and transactions between friends. Today, it's Samsung's turn to follow suit. The company is launching Samsung Wallet, a combination of its Pay and Pass platforms that mixes tap-to-pay transactions with driver's licenses, car and home keys, and much more.
Samsung Pass is being absorbed by Pay as the home for all your digital items
You'll be able to store car keys, smart locks, airline tickets, and more
At Google I/O 2022, the company announced it was replacing the legacy Google Pay app with a new service, once again called Wallet. It collects payment cards, car keys, student IDs, vaccine cards, and everything in between. It also serves as Google's primary payments app in 42 countries, while users in the US and Singapore use both apps in conjunction. As confusing as this approach might look on paper, it's bound to be a popular move — especially with Samsung following in its lead.
All the ways to save and instantly access your Covid vaccine card on your phone
Access a digital backup with a single tap right from your home screen
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A Covid-19 Vaccination Record Card provides proof that you've been vaccinated, but you're no longer limited to carrying around a flimsy piece of paper. Digital vaccine passports have become more accessible throughout the summer as healthcare providers and individual states have implemented their own methods. With these updated digital passes, physical cards are often no longer required, though you should keep your sheet as a backup no matter what. Let's look at the current state of how vaccine passports work on Android, as well as an easy way to save a backup copy to your phone — complete with a shortcut accessible from your home screen.
Samsung Pay will now securely store your vaccination card
In partnership with the Commons Project Foundation
As more and more vaccines are distributed worldwide — and as more businesses require vaccination for entry — keeping proof of your vaccine history on you is essential. We've previously looked at ways to save the card on your phone, and Google Pay has slowly expanded support for virtual proof beginning with Australia. If you're using a Samsung phone, you won't have to wait much longer to store your own information digitally.
Samsung Pay is just not worth using without MST
The end of MST payments is the end of good reasons to use Samsung Pay
The title says it all: Without MST support, there's just no reason to use Samsung Pay. Over the past year or so, Samsung has effectively stripped Samsung Pay of its most compelling features, but its saving grace was MST — the technology that allowed Samsung phones to mimic a magnetic credit card strip, making them compatible with legacy payment terminals. But Samsung's latest smartphones, the Galaxy S21 series, debuted without MST this year — and all that's left of Samsung Pay is a bloated, ad infested app that compares poorly to Google Pay.
Samsung's Galaxy S21 won't support MST for contactless payments in the US
And future Galaxy phones won't, either
There was some confusion at today's announcement whether or not Samsung's Galaxy S21 series of phones support MST for contactless payments. The technology allowed earlier Samsung devices to use wireless payments even at terminals that weren't configured with NFC, emulating a magnetic card stripe for the reader. Unfortunately for fans of the feature, Samsung confirms to us that the Galaxy S21 won't have MST in the US, and this loss of MST will apply to future phones as well.
Samsung Pay is losing its rewards program at the end of the year
But you can still earn points other ways
After the end of the year, Samsung Pay will no longer earn points toward Samsung's rewards program. While purchases at Samsung storefronts like the company's website and the Galaxy Store still earn points for Samsung Rewards, when the calendar flips over to 2021 at the end of the year, you won't be able to earn them anymore through Samsung Pay.
This digital card from the guys behind Samsung Pay lets you tap to pay without your phone
Plus it's also a Bluetooth tracker
NFC payments are quick, easy, and less germy than swiping a card — but they aren't as widespread as one might think. Samsung uses magnetic secure transmission (MST) technology to make Samsung Pay available at almost any payment terminal around the world, even if the merchant doesn't support NFC platforms like Google Pay or Apple Pay. Now the people behind that tech are back with a new product that promises to simplify the payment process for everyone.
Samsung Pay bypasses the banks to roll out support widely in Germany
It should work with 'almost any German bank account'
Samsung Pay is rolling out in Germany, but with one major twist: Rather than relying on bank-by-bank support, which can take ages, the company is simply partnering directly with Visa and a fintech company named Solarisbank AG to roll it out for everyone at once. In short, that means basically anyone in Germany can set up Samsung Pay without their bank having to support it first.
Samsung Money debit card now available, and comes with a few perks
Those outside the US may have to wait a little longer for Samsung Money
We are quite used to tech companies handling our money through apps like Google Pay and Samsung Pay. But what about having your phone maker issue you a credit card?It sounded a bit much when Apple came out with its own, but apparently the Apple Card was enticing enough for Samsung to follow suit and announce its own version a couple of months back. As the company promised back then, the Samsung Money-branded debit card is now landing in the US, offering users quite a few perks and usage benefits.
Apple has its credit card, Verizon just got one, now Samsung wants to put another on the table. The Korean company has announced a partnership with U.K.-based fintech firm Curve and Mastercard to launch the Samsung Pay Card later this year.
Samsung shares more information on its debit card, launching in the US this summer
Apple doeth, Samsung followeth
Following in Apple's footsteps, Samsung recently announced that it wants to introduce its own debit card. Today, the company has finally shared more information on that enterprise, calling it Samsung Money by SoFi as it's backed by said institution (which notably isn't a bank, as it states itself). The account-fee-free service is slated to launch "later this summer" in the US and will offer higher-than-average interest rates and rewards for saving money.
Samsung is pulling an Apple for its fifth Samsung Pay anniversary. The company has just revealed plans to release its own "elevated" payment experience: A debit card.
Mastercard says NFC payments have jumped 40% due to coronavirus concerns
Touching a germ-covered payment terminal isn't ideal
There's a lot to like about mobile NFC payments. They can prevent identity theft by giving stores alias card numbers, they're faster than chip readers, and most importantly right now, you don't have to physically touch the payment terminal. That last bit is probably why contactless payments have jumped 40%, according to financial services company Mastercard.
Samsung Pay is finally getting support for dark mode/theme, based on recent reports. Although it doesn't seem to be rolling out widely just yet, a few folks have spotted the change live on their own devices, which switches the sometimes blinding black-on-white default to a nighttime friendly white-on-almost-black.
Ever since Samsung forsook Wear OS and decided to blaze its own trail with Tizen, the company has been churning out some great smartwatches. The Gear S3 Frontier may be three years old now, but it still remains stylish and performant today as a smart companion for your phone. After fluctuating quite a bit on price lately, it has settled down to $189 at Amazon.Although the Gear S3 Frontier is older than the Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Watch Active2, it's still a very competent, and downright good, wearable. It features a great 1.3" 360x360 AMOLED display, intuitive and satisfying rotary bezel for UI navigation, 4GB of onboard storage, a speaker and microphone, a great battery life, and full Samsung Pay (both NFC and MST support).