Samsung Pay in Switzerland

Does anyone know if and when Samsung Pay will be available in Switzerland? Have you ever used Samsung Pay? Was it any good? Any special advantages over other mobile wallets?

Hi there,

The primary advantage of Samsung Pay over other mobile wallets is that it uses Samsung's proprietary magnetic secure transmission (MST) which allows you to make contactless payments at any card terminals which include magnetic stripe readers.

Magnetic stripe technology is much more established than near field communication (NFC) or "contactless" technology. Because of this, Samsung Pay can be used at many more locations than Apple Pay, Android Pay and other mobile wallets that rely on NFC technology. This is especially useful in the U.S. and other countries were magnetic stripe credit and debit card are still the de facto standard. But even in Switzerland you will find many merchants which are not equipped to handle NFC, especially if you shop at non-corporate retailers and restaurants.

Disadvantages of Samsung Pay include the fact that this app only works on Samsung phones (and only newer models), and the fact that the simulated magnetic stripe technology does not work on 100% of terminals with magnetic stripe readers.

Best regards from Moneyguru

Can I use Samsung Pay to send money directly to other Samsung Pay users?

Hi there,

Samsung Pay currently links to credit cards or prepaid cards rather than to a bank account or prepaid account (like TWINT does). For this reason, it is not currently possible for Samsung Pay users in Switzerland to make direct money transfers to other Samsung Pay users in the same way that TWINT users can make direct transfers to other TWINT users.

Best regards from Moneyguru

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