Smartphone mobile payments have finally arrived in a big way in
2015: after Apple introduced Apple Pay in late 2014, the service started
to get traction in 2015. Towards the end of the year, two other big
names arrived to the space: Google finally overhauled Wallet and
re-booted the system as Android Pay, and then, Samsung launched its
Samsung Pay service.
Which is the best and most convenient phone payment system to use in the United States these days?
First,
let's make it clear that both Apple Pay and Android Pay use NFC to pass
on transactions, and both services require an NFC-enabled terminal.
Many popular chains like McDonalds, Subway, Walgreens, Duane Reade and the Whole Foods Market support these terminals, but others like Best Buy do not have them everywhere yet, and smaller local stores will probably take years to upgrade their terminals.
In
those places, Samsung Pay's support for the legacy MST standard comes
particularly handy: you just place your phone close to the place where
cards are swiped, and it sends a magnetic
signal that makes it possible to pay using your phone in places where
Apple and Android Pay users can't do it. While there are still lots of
places that don't accept NFC payments, more than 90% of the stores in
the United States have magnetic card terminals that accept Samsung Pay.
Then,
there is payment within apps. As we do more and more of our shopping
online, it's a huge time-saver to have one-tap payments within apps like
AirBnB and Target. Apple was the first to add payments within an app,
and it supports the most apps including some very popular ones (Best
Buy, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Etsy, Kickstarter, Uber, Target, Ticket
Master just to name a few). Android Pay has only recently started
supporting payments in an app, so the list of supported apps lacks some key ones, and Samsung Pay does not yet support payments within apps at all.
| Apple Pay | Samsung Pay | Android Pay | |
| Launch date | September, 2014 | September, 2015 | September, 2015 |
| Supported phones | iPhone 6, 6 Plus and later | select high-end Galaxy phones | all Android 4.4+ phones with NFC |
| Supported countries | US, UK | US, Korea | US |
| Upcoming countries | China - Q1 2016 EU countries - Q1 2016 | UK - August 2016 Spain, China - Q1 2016 Australia, Brasil, Singapore | No data |
| Type | NFC only | NFC Magnetic (MST) | NFC only |
| Shortcut to launch | Starts automatically when near NFC terminal | Swipe up from bottom of screen | Starts automatically when near NFC terminal |
| Does it work with traditional terminals? | - | ✓ | - |
| Does it work with NFC terminals? | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Does it work with ATMs? | - | - | - |
| Does it work for purchases in apps? | ✓ | - | ✓ |
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