Samsung to partner with PayPal to enable mobile payments with new smartwatch

Samsung is partnering with PayPal to offer mobile payment capabilities for the next version of its Galaxy Gear smartwatch, according to a report by Tech Week Europe.

The smartphone manufacturer will go head to head with Apple, who recently announced that its soon to be released Apple Watch would support Apple Pay, which enables customers to make quick purchases using their device.

A “high-ranking” executive at Samsung recently told Business Korea that the third generation of the company’s wearable device would feature mobile payments technology.

The new smartwatch, which uses Samsung’s Tizen operating system and features full cellular functionality along with sensors that capture fitness related measures, will be unveiled next February at Mobile World Congress 2015.

“We are currently developing the smartwatch equipped with fingerprint identification technology and relevant solutions through cooperation with PayPal, the world’s most renowned financial transaction service company, as well as Synaptics, a global company specialized in biometric verification,” said the executive. “By the earliest, the third generation smartwatch to be released early next year will have this new system in which payment is authorized immediately when users identify themselves through biometric sensors such as a fingerprint or login”.

The payments service will also be accompanied by a new app that notifies customers of special promotions at nearby stores so they can pre-select goods before visiting the store and quickly pay for the item at the checkout using their smartwatch.

This marks the second time the company has partnered with PayPal after it offered a similar service with the Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  fingerprint identification  |  mobile payment  |  Paypal  |  Samsung  |  smartwatch  |  Synaptics