Samsung Pay Adds Chase, MasterCard Support

As consumers start to become more familiar and comfortable with mobile payment methods, brands like Apple and Samsung will continue to tussle over market share.

And in the fight for space on consumers’ phones, the company with the most convenient lineup of partnering financial institutions could stand to come out on top.

If that’s the key to victory in mobile payments, then Samsung just took a giant leap forward with a Monday announcement: Eight more credit and debit card issuers will join the Samsung Pay platform, with Chase as the marquee addition. Injong Rhee, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics and global head of Samsung Pay, explained in a statement that the new partners will help drum up more support for the platform as it continues to expand internationally from humble beginnings in South Korea.

“With expanded support from eight additional issuers, including Chase and SunTrust, we look forward to building even more momentum around Samsung Pay,” Rhee said. “Through our ever expanding ecosystem of financial partners, Samsung Pay users will be able to take advantage of the most widely accepted mobile payment solution.”

While the addition of Chase and other banks helps Samsung from a technical perspective, the real benefit of the move may be in more of a public relations vein. By showing not only consumers but also other financial institutions that a major U.S. issuer is willing to throw its weight behind Samsung Pay, the company may be able to persuade other potential partners that signing on with them — instead of, say, Apple — is the safer and more lucrative bet.

“Samsung Pay gives our customers another convenient way to pay with their Chase cards,” Gavin Michael, head of digital for Chase, said in a statement. “They choose how they want to pay.”

If Samsung Pay can continue to convince consumers and the card issuers that serve them that it’s capable of delivering long-term convenience with mobile payments, Chase isn’t likely to be the last partner Samsung signs up.