It's a battle full of 'pays'

By Aditya Kumar Saroj

Tim Cook says Apple Pay will revolutionize the way we transact. Google always has a horse in every race, so came Android Pay into existence. A major brand has seen the beginning of its gloomy days, so came the answer at the MWC 15. If you did not get me, I am talking about Samsung. As perhaps now known worldwide, Samsung released its new galaxies and a new payment system called, Samsung Pay.South Korean tech giant Samsung had suffered a drop in profit in Q3 of 2014. It's profit came to its lowest level since Q2 of 2011. Yes, this is the beginning of the gloomy days. And Samsung is struggling. It's of course not that Samsung is dying, but it is trying hard to survive. Samsung still is 30th on World's Most Admired Companies according to Forbes (2015). But the recent removal of Samsung from the top in India by Micromax, has resulted in a worldwide ripple.Samsung’s new mobile payment system, coming this summer, will work even at the millions of old-fashioned checkout terminals that don’t have a wireless connection. That solves one of the big limitations of Apple’s mobile pay system, which only works at the 200,000 or so newer terminals in the U.S. that have been upgraded with wireless chips.Samsung unveiled the new Samsung Pay feature on Sunday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as part of the introduction of its new Galaxy S6 smartphone. The new phone will include a Near Field Communication chip, just like the newest iPhones, allowing the payment system to work wirelessly at stores with similarly equipped checkout terminals.But Samsung is also including technology it acquired last month when it bought Boston-based start-up LoopPay. The technology allows a phone to send out magnetic signals that register as a swiped credit card at old-fashioned checkout registers, so that it will work wherever credit cards are accepted.

When Samsung acquired LoopPay, it was pretty clear that it wants to answer Apple Pay as mentioned on PlayBlox! earlier.
Samsung Pay users will be able to approve transactions with a fingerprint, much like Apple’s system. And the phone will transmit a special, one-time code instead of a full credit card number, to enhance security, just like Apple. Samsung also rounded up many of Apple’s partners including Visa, Mastercard, American Express and the largest banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.
All of which possibly leaves the field open to Google and its wireless partners. The search giant offers Google Pay as an app for consumers, as well as a new underlying software feature called Android Pay, which lets developers include payment features in their own apps.

Google will encourage developers to use add the underlying features, while still competing against all comers to convince customers to use its wallet, Sundar Pichai, senior vice president at the company, says.
“We always try to win the users’ hearts and minds,” Pichai said, speaking at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Monday. But as the stewards of the Android operating system, Google will also seek to work more closely with Samsung on its competing payment app. “We are on slightly different timelines,” he said.
Apple on one hand has done a great job. Initially, 500 banks and financial institutions pledged support for the service, but that number has swelled up to around 750, with even more requesting to partner up. Cook said Apple Pay now represents 80 percent of contactless transactions at Panera Bread, while upscale grocer Whole Foods saw a 400 percent increase in contactless payments since the service launched.
Tim Cook has already mentioned that 2015 is going to be the year of 'Apple Pay'. That may become true since Samsung Pay does not look like a tough competitor, according to me.
Surely, 2015 will the 'Year of battle of 'Pays''!