Samsung Wallet Adds ‘Tap to Transfer’ Feature for P2P Payments

Samsung Wallet in the U.S. now simplifies peer-to-peer (P2P) payments with the help of Visa Tap technology and the Visa Direct money movement solution.

With the launch of this Samsung Tap to Transfer, Samsung becomes the first partner to deploy Visa’s Tap to P2P, Visa said in a Wednesday (May 21) press release.

This feature creates interoperability between digital wallets, allowing users to transfer funds within a minute, according to the release.

“Tap to Transfer allows Samsung Galaxy users to send money to the bank accounts of friends or family simply by tapping their phones together or by tapping a friend’s participating contactless debit card, regardless of the receiver’s device or digital wallet,” the release said. “This means no app navigation, no manual entry of card details, no wait times and no more hassle if a friend doesn’t have the same P2P app.”

Tap to P2P is the latest application of Visa’s Tap technology, which “allows consumers to tap their card on NFC-enabled consumer devices, unlocking a number of new Tap innovations from Visa,” Geraldine Mitchley, vice president and head of Visa Tap global enablement at Visa, said in the release.

An earlier use case of this technology, the Tap to Phone contactless payment solution, saw a 200% increase in adoption in the year ended March 3, Visa reported at the time.

Mark Nelsen, global head of consumer products at Visa, told PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster at the time: “Tap to Phone is a tech equalizer for business. Walk into some of the world’s largest retailers or go to your local farmer’s market and they’re using this same technology to accept payments right on their phone.”

The movement of funds through the new Tap to Transfer is facilitated by Visa Direct, which works behind the scenes to move funds to the recipient’s bank account, according to Visa’s Wednesday press release.

“This literally puts the power of money movement in the hands of consumers,” Jim Filice, vice president and head of NA money movement at Visa, said in the release.

Samsung announced May 6 that it was set to add Tap to Transfer to Samsung Wallet this month, saying this P2P payments feature is likely to be used for things like paying friends back for buying group tickets or sending them a portion of a dinner bill.

“Many users want the flexibility to accomplish their most frequent and important tasks on their mobile device,” Drew Blackard, senior vice president of mobile product management at Samsung Electronics America, said at the time in a press release.