Samsung Pay hits 1.8 billion dollars in Korea

Samsung Electronics' mobile payment service Samsung Pay has accumulated 2 trillion won (1.78 billion U.S. dollars) in transactions. Samsung said Tuesday that since debuting the service in August last year, outstanding transactions have reached 2 trillion won and the service has globally hit 100 million unique transactions in total.

Samsung Pay can be used by touching smartphones on the card terminal. It supports various services including offline payment, online payment, and ATM transactions, and also can be used as a public transportation payment card. It is currently available in seven countries including Korea, the U.S. and China. Besides 449 major banks worldwide, Samsung has also partnered with major credit card companies such as American Express, Union Pay, Master Card and Visa as well as Alibaba's mobile payment platform Alipay.

According to Samsung Electronics, Samsung Pay's use for online transactions also jumped. The world's largest smartphone company has earnestly expanded the service to various online payment sites and open markets. In Korea, 25 percent, or around 500 billion won (445 million dollars) of the total transactions of 2 trillion won (1.78 billion dollars), has been made for online payments.

Samsung Electronics said the service has gained popularity among users who prefer convenience and safety, since payment is done just by fingerprint verification whereas existing online payment services require complex verification procedures.