The contactless payment service is available in seven countries, with a UK release expected by the end of this year
Samsung Pay has reached its first birthday (August 20) having achieved more than 100 million unique transactions across seven countries.
The contactless payment allows owners of compatible Samsung handsets to make bank transactions by simply tapping the phone on a contactless terminal.
It is not out in the UK yet, but is expected to be by the end of this year. It is only available in South Korea, the United States, China, Spain, Singapore, Australia, Puerto Rico and Brazil.
There are currently four million registered membership cards in the US and South Korea, with more than 440 bank issuers currently supported by the service.
Two million won in transactions have been processed since launch in Korea alone, with more than a quarter of them made online.
Nearly 11 million cards related to value-added services, including membership, ATM, and transit cards, have been registered.
According to the UK Cards Association, contactless payments now account for 18 per cent of overall card spend. In the first half of this year alone, there were 1.1 billion contactless transactions.
There were 1.05 billion in the whole of 2015. A total of £9.27 billion has been spent in 2016 so far, up from £7.75 billion in the same period the previous year.
Samsung Electronics Mobile Communications Business CTO and EVP of software and services Injong Rhee said: “Since its introduction a year ago, Samsung Pay continues to lead mobile payments by providing services that are simple, secure and virtually anywhere.
“Our ambition to reach a world without wallets continues to draw ever closer, and this strong consumer adoption signals a shift in behavior and demonstrates the continued enthusiasm for a safer, smarter and better mobile wallet.”
Major rival Apple had launched its own mobile contactless service in 2015, available on iPhone 6 and SE models. It has been released in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, China, Singapore, Switzerland, France and Hong Kong.
