Samsung has announced wider support for Samsung Pay in the UK. You can now use cards issued through HSBC, First Direct and M&S Bank.
The now providers are in addition to existing support for Visa or Mastercards issued through Santander, Nationwide or MBNA.
Samsung announced Samsung Pay for the UK back in May, although the US has had it for a while and it's way behind Android Pay and Apple Pay as both have been available for some time.
Samsung Pay is available in the UK for the following devices: Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge, Samsung Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+
It will also be available soon on the Galaxy A3 (2017), Galaxy A5 (2017) thanks to a software update, and Samsung Gear S3 at a later date.
How to use Samsung Pay
To pay, simply swipe up on the phone’s screen to select your Visa card of choice and confirm the payment via fingerprint, iris scan or passcode. Note that you need to have some kind of device security enabled of some sort.
Samsung has worked with Transport for London on a feature that means you don't need to unlock your device before tapping it on the reader. Clever stuff.
With the Gear S3 the payment can be started with a touch of a button.
The Samsung Pay app is pre-installed on most Galaxy handsets, but you can download it of course. You add your existing credit or debit card and you'll be asked to verify it by your provider.
Naturally, it's also secure like other contactless payment methods - your card details are not provided to the merchant, instead your number is substituted with a unique token specific to your card and device. If the phone is stolen, it can easily be deactivated and you won't need to cancel your card.
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