Samsung is reportedly reviewing a marketing strategy for its online payments platform Samsung Pay over credit card issuers fees. The company is considering a supportive strategy that provides credit card companies with marketing assistance while charging them a fee for payments via Samsung Pay.
According to PulseNews sources, the South Korean tech giant is said to review a marketing strategy that returns an amount of the fees it charges credit card issuers for Samsung Pay. However, the amount may vary depending on the card payments.
Meanwhile, the company is mulling to take an approach that strengthens its partnerships with credit lenders, which have suffered financial difficulties. A possible strategy may resemble the marketing support offered by global payment networks Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. to their partners.
“An intensifying competition against its emerging rival Apple Inc. has forced Samsung Electronics to charge credit companies fees,” said an unnamed official from a credit issuer.
It’s worth mentioning that the fee rates are yet to be fixed but industry sources projected that Samsung would take a variable pricing approach that charges reduced fees based on factors such as the market share of a given credit card issuer or the volume of card payments.
Catch – If Samsung Pay charges a fee of 0.15 percent per payment, credit card companies will have to pay a total of 70 billion won ($53.5 million) in fees per year.
