Samsung Pay Mini won’t launch on the App Store in the near future, as Apple has rejected the company’s mobile payment application for unknown reasons.
Tech giant has rejected registration of Samsung’s mobile payment option on its app store without explanation. Samsung decided not to resubmit the app and will instead concentrate on the Android market.
“After Apple rejected registration of Samsung Pay Mini onto its app store, we have decided to focus on Smartphones with Android OS,” a representative for Samsung told ETNews.
Samsung Pay Mini is a mobile payment service that the company planned to launch for Android and iOS platforms in January. But given the rejection, Apple Pay will remain the main payment app available for iPhone users.
Samsung has been working on its Samsung Pay Mini for over a year to let customers use it on different brands of smartphones. The company completed the service’s trial with South Korean credit card providers and has already applied for copyrights in South Korea as well as other countries.
Although it is unknown why Apple rejected Samsung Pay Mini, it is possible that Samsung’s service does not comply with Apple’s policies. The company could change some of its functions under Apple’s regulations and reapply again but decided not to do that.
Some say the competition between the companies may be the reason for the rejection. It is likely that Apply would not desire to have such a strong competitor in its ecosystem.
Samsung Pay is quickly rowing in popularity and is currently available in USA, South Korea, Australia, China, Singapore, Brazil, Spain and Puerto Rico. Moreover, the feature is set to go live in the UK next year. Initially, Samsung reported it will launch the app in the country in 2016, but pushed back the release until 2017.
Canada is among the other countries where the service is planned to be launched. Two months ago, Samsung revealed that it projects to make the option available there before the end of the year. The company has also announced yesterday that it started Samsung Pay beta testing program in Malaysia.
Apple, meantime, is preparing to roll out its payment app in South Korea in the first half of 2017. The company, however, has not yet made an official announcement regarding the launch. Apple is also going to open its first brick and mortar store in South Korea, which is already under construction. The opening is planned for the next year.
Another mobile payments provider, Facebook Payments, is trying to make the option available in as many countries as possible. The feature, which was launched in 2015 in the US, went live in Europe as Facebook has received an e-money license from the Central Bank of Ireland.
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