Samsung Pay has gone live in Canada – but only for a subset of customers using certain Visa cards from CIBC Bank.
Processing Content
A Samsung customer service representative revealed the expansion plans in a reply to an Oct. 26 customer inquiry in Samsung Pay’s built-in app. That was the day after Samsung Pay announced its launch in Malaysia, Thailand and Russia.
“These [Samsung Pay] services will be made available from the first week of November, 2016 in Canada. And, initially the service will be launched with CIBC Visa cards,” the company said in its reply.
An employee demonstrates Samsung Electronics Co.'s Samsung Pay application on a Galaxy Note 7 smartphone with stylus during a media event in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016. Samsung's large-screen Galaxy Note 7 smartphone can be unlocked with an iris-scanning camera. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
Galaxy phone owners began reporting Monday that the tap-to-pay service has gone live, Engadget first reported. It's not clear when to expect the formal launch or when the service will expand to other banks and payment providers.
Australia's national Payments Systems Board has decided to remove surcharges on prepaid, debit and credit cards for electronic funds transfers, while lowering the cap on interchange fees. Also, Wells Fargo is seeking banks for its international payment network, and more in American Banker's global payments and fintech roundup.
Federal Reserve Gov. Michael Barr said Wednesday that his dissents over the past year on proposed regulatory changes reflect concern that oversight of banks could be significantly weakened.