Samsung Pay Review: One Month Later.

[Nathan Innocent]

Good morning everyone,
I have done enough trials with Samsung Pay that I have decided to give my input on the payment method for people who are questionable to use it.

Samsung Pay uses both NFC (Near Field Communication) and MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission) for pay for goods at any merchant. Samsung and Android Pay are currently competing against each other, but Samsung has given Apple Pay and Android Pay a run for their money after innovating Loop Pay's technology. Here is some summaries of my personal experience with Samsung Pay.

Chick Fil A: The merchant has the Verifone swipe machines so it's a machine you swipe the card yourself. The first time I used Samsung Pay was at this restaurant. I drew so much attention when using it that other customers were asking me questions about what I just did. The co-workers and manager have never seen someone pay with their phone before. They considered it "faster" and "secure".

Target: A lot of people in the threads have had a hit or miss with Samsung Pay at Target. I was able to buy a soda and a pack of gum with no difficulty. The cashier was very confused, but when the payment went through, he looked at me if I was some type of wizard. He said "That's pretty cool." Target has the new chip card readers where I currently live at so that's why I went there to see if it mattered.

CVS: I used it at the CVS because they turned off their NFC pads and I went to buy an Arizona Iced Tea and the cashier demanded that I would swipe my card instead of my phone. She insisted that "We turned off the NFC pads so it wouldn't work". I proved her wrong because I put it next to the card reader as usual. She was shocked when it went through and shrugged her shoulders.

I have failed to be able to use it at Chipotle because they insist to me that it will not work. Chipotle clearly hasn't been training their employees with phone payment methods....

The trick to getting Samsung Pay is getting it to the "sweet spot" by the card reader. The MST technology is in the upper half of the phone and the magnetic technology in readers is around 2/3rd or halfway on a reader. I noticed initially when using Samsung Pay that it gave an error. Since I found out the sweet spot, it hasn't failed me.

Samsung Pay is a little awkward initially, but becomes very comfortable when you start depending on it. I still carry my card wherever I go, but I have my phone in hand when it comes to checkout. It's faster, secure, and more convenient to someone like me who has their phone everywhere they go.

 

[DINGSTER1]

Helpful, thanks.

 

[me just saying]

you are right, samsung pay was a little awkward at first. I had several concerns the first time I tried it. Was the cashier going to object and was I doing it right It took my third time before I became comfortable with how to use it...

 

[Jpeezy33]

My review of this is that i have used it 99% of the time successfully. When I encounter cashiers that insist it won't work I ask them let me try and boom purchased. Lol. Then there are times when I just do it and b4 they even know what hit them the receipt is coming out. As far as sweet spot goes, I don't know I'm my experience if there is one. Sweet spot meaning it goes through fast or just able to read without having an error or something. I still carry my CC with me just for instances if I go out to dinner and have a waiter that takes my card.

 

[Abhinav Kochhar]

I think it is really fast and secure compared to credit card. Yes for precaution until samsung pay gets a 100% hit rate carrying CC is a good idea.

 

[Deputy1]

I've had good luck with it, but I still carry my card. Tonight, I used it at a restaurant that I used it previously with success, but not tonight. Just handed her my Amex card. Might be my faux pas based on me not placing the card near the reader properly.

 

[kalnel#WN]

I've now used it 38 times in the past 10 days, and it hasn't failed yet. (BTW, that means I've used Samsung Pay more this month than I've used Google Wallet/Android Pay/Softcard/Isis total in the past two years, despite my trying -- a lot -- to find NFC terminals. Nothing against them, but this is far more useful.)

The only times I haven't been able to use Samsung Pay were at gas station pumps, parking payment machines that suck your card into the machine, nicer restaurants where the waiter takes your card away, one or two places (like the movies) where I would have had to hand my phone over the a cashier behind glass, and some places that have an MST reader mounted on the side of a cash register. (I suppose I could have asked the cashier if it was OK, but it didn't seem worth the effort.)

My main tip would be to take your thumb off the thumbprint reader when you hold the phone up to the card reader. The first few times I used it, I didn't do this, and I got error messages, even though the transaction went through.

 

[deibid]

I'm a new Samsung Pay addict too. At first, I was pretty scared to pop my phone where the card swipe happens, but after a few successes it just becomes more natural. I normally use it about 2-3 times a day and have literally ditched my wallet. (Although it also means I have some 'doh' moments when I visit cash-only stores once in a rare while.)

I do agree with other folks that greater market awareness would make it so much easier for all of us, so that we aren't constantly trying to convince skeptical cashiers. But then again, we are still only in the first couple months and I do enjoy being an early adopter.

 

[ttrain68]

Broke it out yesterday for the first time, three purchases, three cashiers that said that does work, three successful transactions with cashiers commenting that they like it.

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