For those who use Galaxy devices, managing your digital payments, cards, IDs and more is about to get easier thanks to the expanded rollout of Samsung Wallet, coming to Australia this month.
Samsung launched the all-in-one app last year across 21 countries including the US, UK, and China. Now, it’s coming to Australia alongside seven other regions starting from the end of January.
What is Samsung Wallet?
An expansion to the Samsung Pay ecosystem, Samsung Wallet is a digital asset and identity management app where you can securely store payment details, account passwords, digital keys and so on. In its previous form, Samsung Pay let you digitally store debit and credit cards in addition to gift cards on Galaxy devices, but Samsung Wallet adds further functionality.
As explained on the incoming app’s frequently asked questions page, Wallet combines the features of Samsung Pay and Samsung Pass alongside other additions. Samsung Pass is the company’s biometric authentication service where you can face recognition or your fingerprint to autofill usernames and passwords across stored accounts. Like iCloud Keychain for Apple devices, it’s a handy way of securely storing login information without needing to manually remember and type in your details each time.
Other features included as part of Samsung Wallet range from storing boarding passes, to accessing your SmartThings and car keys – similar to the digital car key sharing recently added to Android – and the ability to view your crypto assets. Plus, if you need to show proof of vaccination, you can also store and display health certificates in the app.
In a nutshell, Samsung Wallet consolidates several pre-existing features into one app, streamlining the overall Galaxy experience. It’s similar to Google Wallet, albeit with proprietary technologies such as the in-built Samsung Knox security platform designed to protect your data.
What devices are compatible?
Once Samsung Wallet goes live in Australia, it should appear on your Galaxy device following the latest software update. From there, you can choose to set it up by following the app’s prompts. The compatible devices include the following models running on Android 9 or above:
- Samsung Galaxy S20, S8 and later
- Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and later
- Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, Fold and later
- Samsung Galaxy A32 5G, A42 5G, A52 5G, A50, A51, A51 5G, A53 5G, A70, A71 5G
We’ll have to wait and see if all of the features make it to our shores, considering specific features do vary by region. Although the all-in-one app’s addition isn’t revolutionary as such, it’s convenient to have a single location to access your important credentials.
