Samsung Electronics is planning to provide a service that will allow its customers to exchange their current money into different currencies through Smartphones. This service is expected to be more than 50% cheaper than exchange service provided by commercial banks. Samsung Electronics is planning to compete with commercial banks that have been monopolizing exchange market for 30 years with ‘Samsung Pay platform’ that has changed itself into an exchange system.
According to industries, Samsung Electronics is planning to start its own exchange service through Samsung Pay. Anyone who has a Smartphone that has Samsung Pay installed can carry out currency exchange without having a bank account.
This service simplifies procedures and reduces costs as it processes personal verification through a mobile device and its main function is its ability to allow anyone to carry out currency exchange wherever he or she is currently located.
Samsung Electronics partnered up with Hanpass and introduced a wire transfer service and they are now looking into commercializing ‘exchange service’ that can be done through a mobile device.
People have been paying expensive fees to banks to use their exchange services. Non-face-to-face exchange is also based on banking accounts which requires people to receive cash in South Korea. On the other hand, Samsung Pay’s exchange service allows one to receive money right away if he or she registers amount that he or she wants to exchange beforehand. Samsung Electronics has upgraded its wire transfer service, which is currently under a beta service, so that it also performs exchange service.
This service is so called cash pickup service and it is also very simple to use this service. One can simply click ‘Cash Pickup’ within wire transfer service that is included within Samsung Pay to carry out currency exchange. He or she can present his or her passport and pickup code and pick up money from pawnshop, exchange store, supermarket, or post office.
It utilizes network from major wire transfer franchise stores rather than network from commercial banks. Because it is cash-based service, a person who makes a foreign remittance to himself or herself while traveling overseas can make a currency exchange in a country where he or she is traveling.
Samsung Electronics is planning to start this service in South-East Asian countries first and eventually expand this service to other countries.
It is first going to introduce this service through Galaxy S10 starting from this month and perform marketing and advertisement through Smartphones that are installed with Samsung Pay.
Hanpass has more than 500,000 exchange stores in 165 different countries and it is planning to provide cash pickup service first through these stores. Cash pickup center currently has about 44,000 stores in the U.S., 20,000 stores in Philippines, 8,000 stores in Vietnam, and 6,000 stores in Thailand. Hanpass is also planning to introduce a delivery service that will exchange currencies to South Korean airports for customers’ convenience.
There is a high chance that this service will become priming water that will break up current exchange market that has been monopolized by commercial banks once it is commercialized.
“Foreign remittance and foreign exchange are not separated and they can provide foreign exchange service with inexpensive currency fee anywhere in the world once they are combined into one service.” said CEO Kim Kyung-hoon of Hanpass. “We are currently discussing with Samsung Electronics to provide an optimal exchange service to tourists, foreign exchange students, and South Koreans living overseas.”
“It is true that this new exchange service includes cash pickup service and beta version of our foreign wire remittance service.” said a representative for Samsung Electronics. “We have yet to make a final decision on whether we will introduce this service through Samsung Pay.”
Meanwhile, there are about 26.5 million South Koreans traveling foreign countries every year and this new service by Samsung Electronics and Hanpass is expected to create competitions for exchange service between Samsung Electronics and financial companies.
Staff Reporter Ham, Jihyun | goham@etnews.com & Staff Reporter Gil, Jaeshik | osolgil@etnews.com