Verizon (Finally) Says ‘Yes’ To Samsung Pay

Playing what might be termed a game of carrier catch-up, it looks like Verizon Wireless is coming around to supporting Samsung Pay.

As noted by The Verge on Tuesday (Oct. 6), Verizon will support the payments platform through an “upcoming software update.” That announcement comes several days after the Sept. 28 launch of the service. At the time, the carrier had said it was “evaluating” Samsung Pay, a hesitation that did not mark peers such as AT&T, U.S. Cellular and Sprint — all of whom evaluated and approved the mobile payments system as far back as August.

[bctt tweet=”Playing what might be termed a game of carrier catch-up, it looks like Verizon Wireless is coming around to supporting Samsung Pay.”]

During its unveiling late last month, Samsung Pay got major support across payments companies such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express. The issuers crowding to support Samsung Pay included Chase and Bank of America.

The service uses tokenization and Samsung Knox to ensure payments security. The platform had been delayed past the summer and into September amid speculation that the company was somewhat cautious in its strategy against Android Pay. The company, for its part, said that it wanted the time to launch alongside new product announcements and payment alliances. Samsung Pay itself traces its origins to the acquisition of LoopPay earlier in 2015.

The Verge said that Verizon Wireless has had “a turbulent history” with mobile payments, as in the past it has sought and succeeded in disabling near-field communications, keeping Google Wallet off its network. In turn, it has pushed its own mobile wallet offering known as Isis, which was then renamed Softcard and then ultimately discontinued.

The most recent news that Verizon Wireless will support Samsung Pay means that the service will be available across a range of devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 edge+ and Note 5,  among others.

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