Samsung Pay Website Seemingly Confirms Samsung Pay Mini App and Voice Assistant ‘Bixby’

| Updated
by Polina Chernykh · 3 min read
Samsung Pay Website Seemingly Confirms Samsung Pay Mini App and Voice Assistant ‘Bixby’
Photo: Samsung Newsroom/Flickr

Electronics giant might soon launch a mini version of its mobile payment system and an upcoming artificial intelligence voice assistant Bixby.

On Monday, the Korean version of Samsung Pay’s beta website accidentally confirmed the release of Samsung Pay Mini with support for its upcoming voice assistant Bixby. The website gives no information on the date of the release and the company has yet to comment on this accidental confirmation.

Samsung’s beta page mentions mini option of the app, what means it is being developed for a forthcoming build. The image found on the site also shows Bixby, the company’s digital voice assistant that is expected to be integrated into Samsung Pay. The feature has not been announced yet and it is unknown what it will entail.

Originally, Samsung Pay Mini was thought to be a service for online payments only. It was rumored to let users store receipts of all their purchases inside the app.

Besides, the platform was designed to work on any iOS and Android devices. However, Apple has recently rejected the registration of Samsung Pay onto its app store. Although the reasons for rejection are unknown, some attribute it to the competition between the companies and Apple’s desire to remain the only payment app for available for iPhone users. Still, it is possible that the platform simply does not comply with Apple’s policies.

By most accounts, Samsung Pay Mini will enable customers to simply manage their debit and credit cards and make online purchases. Meantime, the regular version of the app allows users to make payments at physical stores as well.

This is the first time Samsung mentions its own AI voice assistant. Reports from November, however, indicated that Samsung trademarked its virtual assistant that has female and male voices named Kestra and Bixby, respectively.

Bixby is developed with the use of technology from Viv Labs, a startup that was bought by Samsung a few months ago and whose creators developed Siri voice assistant.

Both of the features are likely to debut on Samsung’s Galaxy S8 flagship smartphone, which is planned to be unveiled this April.  Initially scheduled for introduction at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month, the company had to postpone the release to integrate Qualcomm’s latest chipset, the Snapdragon 835.

Amid the rumors about the launch of the new version of Samsung Pay, the company is preparing to extend its payment platform to India this year. Samsung announced last month that it had already begun testing the system and is going to make it available in the country this month.

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