First, there was Samsung Wallet. Then it became Samsung Pay. Since time is a flat circle, Samsung is bringing back the Wallet app – in fact, bringing many existing Samsung services into one app. And this time there is crypto!
The new Samsung Wallet is available today and replaces the current Pay and Pass apps, which currently work with payment cards and passwords respectively. It also integrates with SmartThings to store certain digital home and car keys.
And of course, the new Samsung Wallet integrates with the existing Samsung Blockchain Wallet app, so you can easily monitor the value of your cryptocurrency portfolio. Or maybe not. Samsung also plans to add some of the features it teased earlier this year at the Unpacked event, including the ability to store your digital IDs and driver’s license.
Samsung’s digital key feature was previously available in Samsung Pass for one car: the Genesis GV60. Now the company is expanding compatibility with the Genesis G90 and Hyundai Palisade, as well as select BMW models launched after July 2020. The new Wallet is also compatible with nine smart home security companies through SmartThings, allowing digital home keys to be used. There are other more pedestrian features, such as the ability to store airline boarding passes, although that’s currently limited to Korean Air flights.
Samsung Wallet is available today in the US, UK and parts of Europe for Galaxy phones, with Samsung Pay running Android 9 or higher. However, not all functions are available on all phones: some digital car keys require a short-range UWB connection, others require a phone with Samsung’s eSE security hardwareâ€
