Samsung has decided to discontinue its Samsung Wallet service as it prepares to launch Samsung Pay.
Processing Content
Samsung Wallet will be discontinued everywhere except South Korea after June 30th, a company spokeswoman told PaymentsSource in an email. The move is part of the Korean companys long-term business strategy tied to Samsung Pay.
The Samsung Wallet launched in 2013 with features comparable to those of Apple's Passbook. It stores payment cards and tickets from other mobile apps, and was able to display one-dimensional bar codes that could be read by laser scanners.
The news of Samsung Wallets phase-out was first reported by news site SamMobile after it procured a copy of an email Samsung sent to users. Following Samsung Wallets termination, coupons clipped with the service will no longer be available, but reservations and tickets purchased through it will be available through partner apps, according to the email.
The notice also said that customer information will be handled according to Samsungs privacy policy.
The upcoming Samsung Pay mobile wallet will become available in the United States and South Korea this summer. The service, announced in March, will directly compete with Apple Pay and takes advantage of the technology gained when it acquired LoopPay in February. LoopPay's offering allows a smartphone to generate a wireless signal that emulates the swipe of a magnetic-stripe card, making it possible to use a mobile wallet at point of sale terminals that do not have the Near Field Communication technology required by Apple Pay.
