Samsung Pay Mini, which is a lighter version of Samsung Pay, will be launched sometime in the first quarter this year, the company has officially announced. The stripped down version of Samsung Pay will offer online payment services for Android-powered smartphones. The iOS users may need to wait a bit, it seems, after Apple rejected Samsung’s application to list the Samsung Pay Mini app for iPhone on the app store.
Samsung has set a pre-launch trial for February 6 in Korea where Android users will be able to download the demo version from Google Play. To be able to use the app, users need to own devices based on Android 5.0 Lollipop OS or above.
The main advantage of the Samsung Pay Mini app is that it allows even non-Samsung Android phones users to use Samsung Pay services. However, the services are restricted for online use only, as offline payment support requires Samsung’s patented coil within their hardware for reading magstripes. Additional benefits can also be availed based on points earned, thanks to the new Rewards feature.
To make the experience richer, Samsung is also planning to add ‘Shopping’ feature to Samsung Pay and the new Samsung Pay Mini in South Korea. For this, the company will tie-up with famous local online shopping malls, giving the users more options to choose from.
