The global pandemic is driving the popularity of mobile payment solutions in countless markets, and Samsung Pay in particular has been enjoying a lot of success this year. Consumers are now more willing to make online purchases using a mobile payment solution, and this year alone, South Africans have used Samsung Pay long enough to push the platform into the lead.
Samsung Pay became available in South Africa two years ago. In February this year, before COVID-19 was labeled a global pandemic, Samsung Pay registered two million transactions in South Africa, and now the company claims that the number of transactions has surpassed 3 million.
Samsung Pay is now the most popular mobile payment solution in the country, and this popularity was also driven by the benefits offered by the platform itself, such as monthly competitions and quick access to prepaid vouchers for electricity bills as well as multimedia streaming services.
Customers in South Africa can link numerous card types to their Samsung Pay digital wallets. Samsung's list of banking partners includes ABSA, Standard Bank, First National Bank, RMB Private Bank, Discovery Bank, Investec, Nedbank, Virgin Money and British Airways. Meanwhile, Samsung Pay is now compatible with more than 40 Galaxy devices including smartphones and smartwatches.
This increasing trend for smartphone users to gravitate towards mobile payment solutions as opposed to physical payment methods isn't specific to South Africa. It's a growing global trend and even in the UK, recent studies have shown that nearly 50% of Brits are more inclined to make mobile payment now than they were before the COVID-19 lockdowns.
