Samsung Pay is a mobile payments app that comes with high-end and mid-range Samsung phones and allows you to make card payments using your smartphone. … Samsung calls this Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST), and it works by creating a magnetic field which mimics the swipe of a bank card on a payment terminal.
The groundwork for the technology that is Samsung Pay was laid when , a startup from Massachusetts in the United States.
LoopBay developed technology which effectively turned ordinary magnetic card readers, which do not have support for “tap-and-go” near field communications (NFC), into contactless card readers.
Samsung calls this Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST), and it works by creating a magnetic field which mimics the swipe of a bank card on a payment terminal.
To support MST, a smartphone must have special hardware built in to create the magnetic field.
It must be noted that Samsung Pay also makes use of standard NFC contactless technology where available. The inclusion of MST, however, means that the app works where a card terminal doesn’t have a contactless reader, or its reader is disabled.
What this means for users is that Samsung Pay works at virtually any payment terminal and users can go out with confidence knowing the technology is supported in South Africa.
Apple Pay is a mobile payment and digital wallet service by Apple Inc. that allows users to make payments in person, in iOS apps, and on the web. It is supported on the iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac.
It digitizes and can replace a credit or debit card chip and PIN transaction at a contactless-capable point-of-sale terminal. Apple Pay does not require Apple Pay-specific contactless payment terminals; it works with any merchant that accepts contactless payments.[1] It is similar to contactless payments used in other countries, with the addition of two-factor authentication via Touch ID, Face ID, PIN, or passcode.
Devices wirelessly communicate with point of sale systems using near field communication (NFC), in conjunction with an embedded secure element (eSE) to securely store payment data and perform cryptographic functions, and Apple’s Touch ID and Face ID for biometric authentication.
NFC stands for “Near Field Communication” and, as the name implies, it enables short-range communication between compatible devices. This requires at least one transmitting device, and another to receive the signal. A range of devices can use the NFC standard and will be considered either passive or active.
Magnetic Secure Transmission, or MST, is an advanced technology that helps power Samsung Pay. It generates a magnetic signal similar to that of a traditional payment card when swiped, providing the added convenience of being able to pay quickly on the go without having to reach for your wallet. It then transmits that magnetic signal from your device to the payment terminal’s card reader for further processing.
Accepted at nearly all payment terminals with a card reader, MST technology is very convenient and is even more secure than traditional methods of payment card. Samsung Pay also supports NFC payments.
