Re: Lost Samsung Wallet

Jim the Geordie <jim@jimXscott.co.uk> wrote:

https://play.google.com/store/search?q=samsung%20wallet
 
You can't install that?

 
Phone is A40 Android 11 last update a year ago.
I probably had good reason for uninstalling Samsung Pay/Wallet at the
time, but it puzzles my why I had it, and now I can't have it.

Does "can't have it" mean the Play Store says your phone is
incompatible?

Are you trying to get it from Google's Play Store (play.google.com), or
from Samsung's store (galaxystore.samsung.com/apps)?  I didn't see it
listed in a search at Samsung's store.  Since it was a bundled app, you
might have to follow Tony's advice on seeing if the APK is still on your
phone to reinstall the app.

The reason I brought it up is that sometimes I can take the phone out of
my pocket, open it and wave it somewhere near a terminal, but sometimes
the terminal doesn't like it and sometimes it asks for my fingerprint.
Which of these occurs seems random and annoying/embarrasing if someone
else is waiting to pay.

The place(s) you visit where you try to use Samsung Pay/Wallet don't
take Google Wallet?

Instead of NFC, are you trying to use MST (magnetic secure transmission)
which uses magnetic waves to mimic swing a card stripe through a reader
instead of using radio waves?  Looks like MST got removed on and after
the S21 released 20 months after the A40.  That removed one of the
advantages of Samsung Wallet over Google Wallet: compatibility with
magnetic reader terminals (no NFC support).  Without MST, no point is
sticking with Samsung Wallet.  I think Samsung also took away the reward
points for using contactless payments.

Samsung Wallet (aka Pay) is nowhere near as popular or pervasive as
Google Wallet: 29 countries for Samsung, 80 countries for Google.
Dropping MST meant Samsung lost some advantage (with old magnetic
readers) but both it and Google Wallet do NFC.  Unless I read a bunch of
comparison articles, seems Google Wallet is the better choice.  Samsung
offered blockchain wallet which lets you manage your cryptocurrencies,
but if you're not into a stock-market-like value system on, say, bitcoin
but just use debit/credit cards then you don't care about blockchain
wallet.

As I understand, Samsung Wallet only works on compatible Samsung phones.
Meanwhile, Google Wallet lets you manage/sync your accounts and
transactions on any Android device, not just Google's Pixel.

Google has a list of cards and regions where Google Pay will work, at:

https://support.google.com/wallet/answer/12059326?hl=en&co=GENIE.CountryCode%3DUS

I didn't bother to look for a similar Samsung page on its Wallet app,
but that doesn't mean they don't have one.  A page showing which
retailers accept Google Wallet is at:

https://www.androidpolice.com/google-wallet-major-participating-retailers-us/

but I don't know how exhaustive is the list.  However, I don't see a big
advantage to taking my phone out of its belt holster, unlocking it, and
pressing near an NFC reader versus me pulling my Paypal card out of my
wallet in my back pocket to tap on the screen.  Plus, I have fuel
rewards with my grocery stores (Hy-Vee and Walmart) that have me tap the
store cards on the gas pump reader, and I'm not sure those cards or
their rewards would be registered when using NFC with a smart phone, or
I'd have to switch cards in the wallet the same as having to use 2 cards
at the pump reader.

I was surprised Walmart is listed as /not/ supporting contactless pay
apps; however, Walmart probably wants to force you to use their Pay app
(inside their Android Walmart app).