I tested both payment scenarios: once when an NFC terminal was present, and multiple occasions with MST functionality. Nearly all retailers have a credit card machine which will allow Samsung Pay to work and doesn’t require additional investment in infrastructure and/or staff training to work.

Meanwhile, MST works by sending a small magnetic signal from your smartphone to a credit card reader, essentially mimicking the same signal that’s produced when you swipe your card. The downside to relying solely on NFC is its lack of widespread adoption amongst retailers, since vendors have to invest in new hardware in order for the technology to work. The more common NFC is the same technology found in Apple Pay and Android Pay, where payment information is securely transmitted between an NFC chip (found in the smartphone) and an NFC reader (usually installed near the point of sale machine). Unlike Apple Pay and Android Pay, Samsung’s service works almost everywhere because it uses both near field communication (NFC) and magnetic secure transmission (MST) to transmit payment information. My current bank isn’t one of the few institutions-which include Bank of America, Citi, American Express, and US Bank-that chose to participate in the program at launch, which meant I was forced to use a $50 pre-paid card instead of my own debit card.

Over the past week I tested out the service on a Galaxy S6 Edge+ the company provided me.

Samsung pay v apple pay