Samsung Electronics Notifies Card Companies "No Contract Extension" for Samsung Pay

Separate Negotiations Scheduled for Renewal

It has been confirmed that Samsung Electronics has informed card companies that it will not extend the existing contract related to Samsung Pay.

According to the industry on the 10th, Samsung Electronics had made contracts with card companies stating that no separate fees would be charged for Samsung Pay, and these contracts have been automatically extended unless there were disagreements between both parties. However, Samsung Electronics recently conveyed in writing to the card companies that it will not simply extend the existing contracts. Accordingly, the existing contracts between Samsung Electronics and the card companies are expected to expire around August, and new contracts will likely be signed under new conditions. Negotiations typically begin three months before the expiration of the existing contracts.

Within the industry, Samsung Electronics’ recent stance is being interpreted as a step toward monetizing Samsung Pay fees. In particular, since Apple Pay, which recently launched its domestic service, is known to charge card companies up to 0.15% of the payment amount as fees, it is analyzed that Samsung Pay might also start charging fees. This is also understood to be a consideration of Samsung Pay’s competitiveness, the ecosystem of the domestic simple payment industry, and its relationship with card companies. Samsung Electronics stated, "No decision has been made regarding whether to monetize fees."