Samsung Pay vs. Google Pay vs. Apple Pay: Who's the Winner?

Elizabeth

July 27, 2021

It’s estimated that more than 6.1 billion people will use digital payment apps by 2023? With the overwhelming majority of the world turning towards digital financial solutions, the question becomes: which is the best digital payment app or digital wallet for me?

Having all of your financial information, including debit cards, credit cards, and other accounts, stored on your phone might sound a bit scary. However, it’s actually quickly evolving into one of the easiest and safest ways to pay when you’re out and about. Plus, these kinds of apps don’t allow you just to make payments; they also allow you to do things like split bills, pay friends, track your expenses, and so much more.

So, without further ado, let’s dive into some of the most popular digital wallet apps on the market today. When it comes to Samsung Pay vs. Google Pay vs. Apple Pay...who's the winner?

What Are Digital Wallet Apps?

What's a digital wallet app? It's an application on your phone that can store all of your credit cards, debit cards, loyalty cards and reward points. What’s the point of that? Well, they’re designed so that you don't have to carry around a bunch of plastic in your pockets anymore. And, unless a store requires it, you can also forget about having to carry cash!

When they were first released and adopted, digital wallet apps helped save time and money by eliminating the need to carry cash or cards everywhere you go. Nowadays, there are even more uses for these apps. They're great for travel and shopping online because they allow you to use any form of payment anywhere. And, they’re also great for other daily tasks such as paying your friends back for dinner and tracking your spending habits.

What is Samsung Pay?

As the name might suggest, Samsung Pay is a digital wallet that’s available only for Samsung phones. Currently (at the time of this writing), the app is compatible with Samsung Galaxy phones newer than the Galaxy Note 5, Gear Watch and Gear Watch Active, Gear S2 and S3.

Because it’s not as ubiquitous as the other two digital wallets, Samsung Pay is really only a great option if you have a compatible Samsung phone. However, we will note that it does beat the other two options out in the area of payment technology.

Samsung Pay uses both NFC and magnetic secure transmission (MST) technology whereas Google Pay and Apple Pay only use NFC.

Here is a list of all of the banks that currently work with Samsung Pay.

What is Google Pay?

Google Pay is a merging of two Google products: Android Pay and Google Wallet. Where this app really shines is in the fact that it’s so easy to use and widely accepted. Using Google Chrome’s autofill feature (which most of us have), it’s much easier to make payments and breeze through the checkout process no matter where you are.

Similar to Samsung Pay and Apple Pay, Google Pay allows you to use the app to pay online, in stores, in-app, and even while browsing the web.

Here is a list of all the banks that currently work with Google Play.

What is Apple Pay?

Apple Pay is Apple’s proprietary digital wallet, ideal for Apple users with iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches. With the app, you can link credit, debit, prepaid and select loyalty cards (but not gift cards, which the other two apps do offer!).

Log in with your face ID or fingerprint and access a whole host of features, including Apple Cash which allows you to pay friends and family straight from your iMessages, the ability to track your spending, and the option to ask Siri to make payments for you.

Here is a list of all the banks that currently work with Apple Pay.

Samsung Pay vs. Google Pay

Where Samsung Pay and Google Pay differ the most are in the verification process and really the available banks that you’re able to connect. Google Pay allows you to verify your transactions with your fingerprint, a PIN, pattern or a unique password. Samsung Pay, on the other hand, allows you to verify using only your fingerprint, a PIN or your iris (if your phone supports that feature).

Samsung Pay vs. Apple Pay

Apple Pay definitely beats Samsung Pay in this case. Why? Apple Pay is much more widely available around the world (in 50 countries versus 29). Where Samsung Pay does allow you to make in-app purchases, Apple Pay offers that feature plus the option to make web purchases, too.

Google Pay vs. Apple Pay

Where Google Pay shines versus Apple Pay is in its ability to offer super easy peer-to-peer transactions. While Apple Pay does offer that via Apple Cash, it’s not widely available yet globally. Google Pay, however, being a Google product (who doesn’t have a Gmail account, right?), makes it easier to send payments to pretty much anybody you want who has an eligible account. Google Pay is also accepted as a form of contactless payment in these countries, namely the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and pretty much all of Europe.

Samsung Pay vs. Google Pay vs. Apple Pay: Who’s the Winner?

Whew, that’s a tough question! To make things easier, the decision is pretty much already made for you. If you’re an iPhone user then Apple Pay makes sense since it’s so integrated into the entire Apple environment. Those with Samsung phones have a bit more choice as they’re able to use either Samsung Pay or Google Pay.

Overall, if it’s compatible with your current phone, we’d recommend Google Pay for the flexibility that it offers and the ease of use that the app provides.

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