Apple Pay and other tech devices which use near-field
communication (NFC) as a form of payment seem to be growing in popularity. With
trendy commercials and ease of use, Apple Pay has received an increasing amount
of attention from the media and consumers alike. However, as many users of
Apple Pay have noticed, NFC readers at checkout counters are sporadically
available. Samsung recognized this issue and aimed to capitalize with a payment
system of their own: Samsung Pay. As Samsung’s most recent commercials for the
Galaxy S7 have demonstrated, Samsung Pay is superior to Apple Pay due to its
wider acceptance. So, what makes Samsung Pay better than Apple Pay? The answer is
its use of MST (magnetic source transmission).
Highlighted
in several recent articles on tech-sites such as CNET, MST is similar to NFC. However,
instead of requiring infrastructure updates, MST supposedly works at nearly all
existing tap-to-pay terminals. MST accomplishes this by emitting a magnetic
signal from a metal coil within the phone which essentially copies that of a
magnetic strip on a credit card. This may seem like rudimentary technology
compared to NFC, and in fact, it is. This is why Samsung Pay has a faster
growth curve than Apple Pay. In order to provide a better service, Samsung adopted
inferior technology. Their reason for doing so is quite simple, and that’s to
be more functional.
Although
Samsung adopted older technology, they didn’t forget to include NFC capabilities
as well. Due to Samsung’s adoption of both NFC and MST, the company promises
Samsung Pay to work at 90% of retailers. This percentage of acceptance
surpasses Apple Pay and other NFC-only paying devices due to the lack of
updated credit card terminals. This lag in updated payment terminals is
primarily accredited to the lack of motivation for retailers to upgrade. In
fact, there is very little motivation for current retailers to update their
terminals when considering the cost of doing so. It would, however, make sense
for retailers if phones were replacing wallets, but they’re not. Currently, NFC
technology is a luxury for consumers, not a necessity for retailers.
Although
these articles provide sufficient information on Samsung Pay and MST, something
I thing they overlooked was the growing trend in NFC capable terminals. While
as of now it is not offered in the majority of retail stores, the percentage is
growing. Considering many stores update their payment terminals every few years
anyway, you can be sure that the current and future wave of new terminals will
all offer NFC. While Samsung may have the upper hand as of now, NFC payment
will soon be just as readily offered.
Savvides, Lexy. "Samsung Pay: What You Need to Know (FAQ)." CNET. 23 Mar. 2016. Web. 29 Mar. 2016. <http://www.cnet.com/news/samsung-pay-what-you-need-to-know-faq/>.
Villas-Boas, Antonio. "Samsung Has a Key Technological Advantage That Makes It Much Better to Pay with Your Phone." TechInsider. 23 Sept. 2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2016. <http://www.techinsider.io/how-magnetic-secure-transmission-works-on-samsung-pay-2015-9>.
I had never heard of MST technology before reading this article. I personally don’t use my iPhone to pay for things, but if Apple Pay was more widely accepted than I would maybe consider using it. But for right now, it doesn’t seem worth it since many places don’t accept it and I would have to still bring my wallet in order to pay at places that don’t accept Apple Pay.
ReplyDeleteI had always understood that not everywhere accepted Apple Pay because the credit card terminals didn’t have the technology. I didn’t realize that there was other technology out there that Apple could have used to make Apple Pay available in more places. Lewie makes a valid point when saying that many stores update their payment terminals every few years, therefore Apple Pay should be offered almost everywhere in coming years but I don’t understand why Apple would use technology that isn’t widely offered yet in Apple Pay. If Samsung Pay was able to incorporate both MST and NFC technology in their mobile payment software, is there a reason that Apple chose to only offer NFC?
I think for Apple Pay to really take off and be an asset towards Apple, it needed to be widely accepted at retailers when it was announced. When a new technology is announced, many people are eager to try it. For those who went out and tried apple pay, they were only going to be disappointed to find out many places haven’t updated their credit card terminals. In a couple of years when it is more widely accepted, it won’t be as exciting that people can use their phones to pay since they will have been waiting for it to work.