In a move to further expand its efforts to displace cash, stimulate innovation and drive the growth of digital payments in South Africa, Mastercard is working with participating banks to enable Mastercard cardholders to make quick, secure and convenient in-store payments from their mobile devices using Samsung Pay.
Samsung Pay, Samsung’s mobile payments service, is a secure and easy-to-use platform that enables users with compatible Samsung Galaxy devices to make contactless mobile payments at contactless-enabled and most traditional point of sale terminals by using Near Field Communication (NFC) and Samsung’s proprietary Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology.
“The convergence of physical and digital commerce is not in the future, it’s happening now. At Mastercard, we understand that consumers want to make digital payments when, where and how they want, with the same protection and security offered with a physical card,” says Mark Elliott, Division President of Mastercard, Southern Africa. “As a pioneer of mobile commerce innovation, we are excited to work with Samsung to deliver a new payment experience that is both simple and secure, in turn speeding the adoption of digital payments in South Africa.”
“Tokens” to ensure secure mobile payments
When setting up a device for Samsung Pay, Mastercard generates a digital “token” that is associated with that device and stored on a secure server. The token number is different from the card number and cannot be used on any other device. The tokenisation process is powered by the proven and robust security of the Mastercard Digital Enablement Service (MDES).
When a consumer uses Samsung Pay, it is the token and not their real card number that is provided to the shop. For shoppers and retailers alike, every Mastercard purchase made through Samsung Pay offers the same guarantees of a transaction with a physical card, including protection against identity theft from Mastercard’s Zero Liability coverage.
“Samsung Pay is pleased to join forces with Mastercard to offer a simple and safe mobile payment experience enabled for wider merchant acceptance to Mastercard cardholders and issuers,” says Craige Fleischer, Vice President of Integrated Mobility for Samsung South Africa. “Samsung’s KNOX security platform and biometric authentication together with Mastercard’s tokenization services make Samsung Pay transactions safer and simpler.”
Available in South Africa now
As of today, owners of eligible Samsung devices will be able to make payments with Samsung Pay by simply adding their Mastercard credit, cheque and debit cards offered by participating banks to the app. Banks offering the service include Absa Bank and Standard Bank, with additional South African merchants and banks to be added in the coming months.
