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Mobile payment systems expand in Asia and Australia


Samsung Pay has now launched in Australia, while Apple Pay is promised for Hong Kong this summer. 

Both services are mobile payment systems that use near-field communications (NFC) technology. NFC uses radio waves to transmit data between devices and allows contactless payments to be made.

Samsung announced the launch of its system in Australia this week.

The service is already offered in South Korea, the United States, China, and Spain.

In the first six months since launching in Korea and the US, Samsung Pay has gained more than five million registered users, and has processed more than US$1billion of transactions in South Korea alone, Samsung said.

The service launched in China in March in a deal with local service China UnionPay, following a similar agreement between UnionPay and Apple's Apple Pay service announced in December.

Meanwhile, Apple Pay's Hong Kong site (link in Chinese) lists banks and shops that will soon offer the service in Hong Kong.

DBS Hong Kong confirmed the move in a statement, and said the service will be offered from "this summer".

Ken Chew, DBS Hong Kong's managing director of consumer finance said: "As a pioneer in digital banking, DBS Hong Kong is committed to shaping the future of finance by transforming how we operate and serve our customers through digital innovation. We are excited to be one of the first in Hong Kong to support Apple Pay for a best-in-class mobile payment experience for our customers."

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