mst
Latest
Three years in, Samsung Pay has a long way to go
Samsung Pay debuted roughly three years ago to much fanfare, but how's it been doing since? Pretty well -- relatively speaking. The Korean tech giant has announced that its tap-to-pay service has racked up 1.3 billion transactions worldwide and is now available on six continents thanks to a launch in South Africa at the end of July. That makes it available in 24 markets -- rather convenient when the Galaxy Note 9 is days away from hitting stores. The growth is no mean feat, although it's important to put it in context.
Chase links its payment app to Samsung Pay so you'll actually use it
Do you use Chase Pay for your retail shopping? No? We won't blame you -- its insistence on using QR codes for purchases makes it far less convenient than tap-to-pay services, not to mention less common. Now, however, it's admitting that it needs to get with the times. Chase has introduced an option to link its payment app to Samsung Pay, letting you use either NFC or stripe-simulating MST tech to clinch the deal. It's much easier when you're in a hurry, of course, and makes the Chase Pay app useful in millions more places. Moreover, there's strong financial incentive -- linking the two will help you earn both Chase Ultimate and Samsung reward points, and it should be easier to redeem your Chase points in the process.
Samsung Pay finally works with your PayPal Wallet
Samsung Pay support for PayPal was unveiled back in July of last year with promises that it would be ready "soon," but that clearly didn't happen -- you've had to use your regular payment cards in the months since. Whatever prompted the wait, it's ready. PayPal has started enabling support through Samsung's tap-to-pay feature, letting you draw from your Wallet's funds instead of a credit or debit card.
Samsung Pay won't reach the UK until sometime next year
2016 has been a good year for mobile payments, thanks to the arrival of Android Pay and the majority of big banks adopting Apple Pay. Samsung was also meant to join the party, but the company has confirmed that Galaxy smartphone and Gear smartwatch owners will now have to wait until next year to use its payment service. The Telegraph reports that the launch has been "tied up amid negotiations with banks," a story that some British banking customers are already all too familiar with.
Samsung Pay adds new online payment options
Samsung Pay already works in a lot of places because of its canny MST magnetic tech, and the company is taking steps to make the service even more ubiquitous. Starting next year, it will work with Mastercard's Masterpass, letting more users buy online from a computer or handheld device, skip the usual form-filling and authenticate with a fingerprint. (Mastercard also made Masterpass deals with Android Pay and Microsoft Wallet earlier this week.)
Samsung team-up aims to improve your mobile payments
If you've ever tried paying with your phone at a store, you know that the experience is often only as good as the payment reader -- a sketchy terminal could lead to you pulling out a credit card in embarrassment. Samsung thinks the industry can do better, though. It's partnering with some of the larger point-of-sale device makers (such as Verifone and Ingenico) to guarantee "maximum compatibility and universal acceptance" for Samsung Pay. The hope is that this will boost the adoption of mobile payments simply by giving you a better time when you tap-to-pay, with fewer errors that make you rethink the whole concept.
Samsung's mobile payments service is coming this summer
It's been just a couple of weeks since Samsung acquired mobile payments company LoopPay, but it's ready to announce the payment service based on LoopPay's tech: Samsung Pay. The service works with NFC (like Apply Pay and Google Wallet) and a new(ish) tech called Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST). It's the latter of the two options that has people excited, so let's take a minute to explain what exactly it is.
AMD Radeon HD 6000 cards receive VESA DisplayPort 1.2 certification, merit badges
When the certifications come in, you wipe a tear from your eye and ponder how proud you are. On Thursday, the Video Electronics Standards Association announced that AMD's Radeon HD 6000 series graphics cards, including the high-end Radeon HD 6990, are the first to receive DisplayPort Version 1.2 certification. That means the cards are rated to support DisplayPort's 5.4Gbps HBR2 data link speed and also feature increased display resolution, color depths and refresh rates, plus improved support for Full HD 3D stereoscopic displays. For the multiple monitor die-hards, there's also better support for multiple monitors connected to a single DisplayPort receptacle to make your lives easier. Full technical details are in the PR below, but it's good to see a capable card series grow up a bit / become a man.
