Samsung Electronics just announced a major update to its Samsung Wallet app. The company is introducing a new Tap to Transfer feature for easy peer-to-peer payments, competing directly with Cash App, PayPal, Venmo, and other similar services.
This new feature will launch later this month in the U.S. and is designed to help friends and family send and receive money more quickly and conveniently than before. Tap to Transfer lets users send money directly from their Visa or Mastercard debit card stored in Samsung Wallet to another person’s digital wallet or even straight to their physical debit card.
The feature uses technology already built into Samsung Wallet, making it easy for millions of Galaxy smartphone users to access. This smooth process removes the need for extra apps, making payments much simpler. The technology uses NFC (Near Field Communication) for digital and physical transfers.
For digital transfers, the sender’s phone connects directly to the recipient’s digital wallet for fast and easy transactions. The phone uses NFC to communicate with the chip in the recipient’s debit card for physical transfers, working just like a standard tap-to-pay transaction at a store checkout. This should make it easy to transfer money, even if you don’t have a digital wallet to receive payments. If your debit card supports tap-to-pay, then you’re good to go.
One of the biggest benefits of Tap to Transfer is its speed. While the official announcement says funds usually arrive within minutes, the actual time may vary depending on the recipient’s bank. This is an important detail because the transfer speed depends mostly on how quickly the recipient’s bank processes the payment.
You should keep in mind that fees and limits may apply. Samsung hasn’t added any fees, but your bank or mobile carrier might charge additional fees. You can read more about that on Samsung’s website, but you should be fine if you’ve got unlimited text and a bank that doesn’t mind transfers.
Besides making it easy to send money to people nearby using NFC, Tap to Transfer also solves the problem of sending money to people who aren’t in the user’s contact list or far away. Users can simply look up a recipient’s Samsung account using their phone number to send money remotely, even if they aren’t physically close.
This is much simpler than a bank service like Zelle or a transfer from a teller. It also removes the need for Cash App, PayPal, and other third-party services that tend to charge more for transferring.
If you’ve ever used the iPhone’s Tap To Cash feature, it’s similar. Tap to Cash only works for Apple Cash users, and two Apple devices need to be near each other. Tap to Transfer, on the other hand, uses NFC technology to work with Visa and Mastercard debit cards saved in Samsung Wallet, so it’s even easier to use at a distance.
The new feature will be rolled out over the month, so there’s still more time to wait for it. However, this should change how you transfer money using a Samsung device.
Source: Samsung
