Samsung Pay may soon support phone-to-phone payments

The mobile payments industry is rapidly becoming a hard-fought contest between companies clamouring to get onto the next big tech waves but at present, it’s only really useful for paying shops and using store or loyalty cards.

[related_videos title=”Samsung Pay devices:” align=”left” type=”custom” videos=”650695,643941,638334,637995″]Three payment solutions are battling for dominance of the mobile payments industry and while Apple Pay is the current leader, Android Pay and Samsung Pay are both vying for its crown. Samsung Pay looks set to have the upper hand as a US mobile payment startup has developed a way to use Samsung Pay for phone-to-phone payments.

Currently, all offline mobile payment solutions require a Value Added Network (VAN) due to direct communication with the payment company. However, the new module from Hankook NFC will bypass the need for a VAN and means retailers no longer need specialist hardware and service plans to payments: instead, a Samsung smartphone with Samsung Pay and the Hankook module installed will suffice to accept payments.

An official from Hankook NFC said:

If Samsung Electronics expands the application of the NFC payment module, smartphones with Samsung Pay can be used as mobile payment devices. Accordingly, it is possible to not only transfer money between smartphones but also pay with credit cards.

The module will also allow users to transfer money between phones and pay with a credit card, which could be perfect for small retailers, such as shops that take infrequent card payments. It would also present a great opportunity for temporary businesses such as stalls, which are quick to set up but don’t readily accept card payments thanks to the lengthy VAN process involved.

There’s no doubt that the mobile payment industry is definitely one that’s set to grow and with Hankook NFC and Samsung in talks to utilise the new module, we may be witnessing the birth of the next generation of offline payments.