What you need to know
- Samsung Pass will be integrated into Samsung Pay in the near future.
- The Pay app will soon house all of your payment methods, loyalty cards, digital keys, airline tickets, and digital assets in one place.
- It will be available on Samsung Pay-compatible phones running Android 9 and above.
Samsung is officially pulling the plug on the standalone Samsung Pass app, announcing that the service will be merged into Samsung Pay. The integration aims to provide a one-stop solution for storing all of your credit cards, debit cards, digital keys, movie tickets, loyalty cards, and digital assets.
The company has announced that the integrated app will be available first on many of the best Samsung phones in South Korea (via SamMobile). The tech giant plans to expand the refreshed service to other markets, including the United States, in the near future.
However, Samsung is not the first company to introduce an all-encompassing digital payment solution that doubles as an identity management service. Google announced during I/O 2022 that it would replace Google Pay with Google Wallet in many countries, except the U.S. and Singapore.
As for Samsung's plans, the goal is to make Samsung Pay a comprehensive digital payment system. This means it will not only be capable of housing your payment and membership cards, but also your SmartThings-enabled smart locks, car keys, plane tickets from participating airlines, and movie tickets.
Unsurprisingly, the first wave of partner airlines is based in South Korea, including Jeju Air, Jin Air, and Korean Air. More airlines are expected to follow suit in the future. Megabox, Lotte Cinema, and Ticket Link are also throwing their weight behind the integrated app, allowing you to manage your movie tickets.
You can also use the service to manage all of your digital assets. The new app works with a variety of cryptocurrency exchanges, including Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit. Samsung says you can monitor the security of your digital assets, payment methods, and digital keys through Samsung Knox.
The integrated Samsung Pay app will be rolled out on devices running Android 9 and higher. While the South Korean company is playing catch-up with Google, it's interesting to see tech titans adopting this type of app as consumers transition more of their physical assets to digital forms.
Jini Han, vice president of digital life team at Samsung, said the company intends to expand the Samsung Pay ecosystem by working with developers.
