Samsung Pay gets gift card support, $200 activation bonus with new phone purchase

Got a gift card lying around in some drawer? Samsung Pay now lets you digitize it so you don’t have to worry about losing or forgetting about it.

Following the addition of public transit card support in South Korea and Japan, Samsung is now bringing gift card to its fledgling mobile payments service. Over 50 gift cards are supported from merchants including Babies“R”Us, Toys“R”Us, Bass Pro Shops, Domino’s, eBay, GameStop, Nike, Regal Entertainment Group and Staples. More cards will be added over the next months.

If you are out of ideas this holiday season (though with our gift guides, you have no excuse, just saying), you can also buy a gift card straight from the app and send it to a loved one.

While Samsung boasts that Pay is compatible with more sales terminals than any other payment service, it’s still limited to the institutions that have joined the program. The good news is more banks now make it possible for their customers to use Samsung Pay, with the most recent example being Chase.

To spur Pay adoption, Samsung is now handing a nice $200 bonus to people who buy or lease a Galaxy S6, S6 edge, S6 edge+, S6 active or Note 5 and activate Samsung Pay on it with a compatible credit or debit card. The money will arrive as a voucher code, and instructions for claiming your prize are available here. The promo is valid through January 20, 2016.