Samsung Pay UK launches today, but only for a select few

Desperate to use mobile payments on your Samsung smartphone? You won’t just be restricted to Android Pay anymore as Samsung Pay is rolling out to devices now.

If you own a recent Samsung phone - and use a supported bank - you’ll be able to download the Samsung Pay app from the Samsung App store now and start using it.

Compatible banks are currently limited though, so you’ll need to be a customer of Santander, Nationwide or MBNA to set up and use the service today.

Samsung has confirmed to TechRadar those with HSBC, First Direct, M&S Bank and American Express will soon be able to sign up, but there's no explicit date yet. It's unclear whether Samsung plans to support any other UK banking services.

Limited banks

If you're using Samsung Pay in the UK, you’ll only be able to use it with contactless terminals.

The Magnetic Secure Transmission feature, that allows Americans to use Samsung Pay on terminals in the US that don't support NFC payments, won't be available in Britain.

A Samsung representative told us that was because of a higher NFC integration within terminals in the UK, so the company didn’t think the feature was as useful as it can be in other markets.

You’ll be able to set up Samsung Pay on the Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8 Plus, Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge, but those with older devices will likely have to download a software upgrade to be able to download the Samsung Pay app.

Samsung also confirmed to TechRadar that it plans to update further devices in the future including the Galaxy A (2017) series, but there's no official launch date as of yet.