Samsung Pay Lands On The Most Unlikely Of Devices: TVs

Technically, Samsung Pay has actually to officially roll out to business and users, but that's definitely not going to stop Samsung from dreaming big. While it's still busy actually preparing the system for merchants and smartphones, it is announcing that the payment service will also come to your living room. Samsung Pay on Samsung Smart TVs. No, it's not going to make it easier to buy that doohickey you saw on the home shopping channel. It will, instead, let you easily pay for digital content that is coming to the Smart TVs.

In short, what Samsung is announcing is that it has opened up its Smart TV platform to paid content. Just as you would buy apps or games on your mobile device, so to could you on your Samsung Smart TV. Those on Android might find this news odd, but it's a noteworthy achievement for Samsung due to the fact that its smart TVs aren't running on Android or Android TV. It is Tizen OS through and through.

And that might partly be where the rub is. Although Tizen has finally gotten off the ground, compared to more well established platforms, there isn't a lot of content to go around, much less premium paid content. Good thing, then, that Samsung is also announcing a new breed of apps that can be bought or offer that ever so present in-app purchase. For the first round, that roster includes Gamefly Streaming, Buddy & Me, Deer Hunter, Eternal Warrior 3, Frontline Commando: DDAY, Golf Star, and Casino World Championship.

Samsung Pay on TV supports major credit and debit cards as well as PayPal. Given you are making a transaction on a TV, it pays, pun intended, to have a simplified process. Samsung says that all it takes are three simple steps. That is, at least after you've set everything up. Simply choose the app or game you want to buy, press Pay Now, and enter your PIN. Samsung ensures that the private info you enter into Samsung Pay on TV, like your credentials and credit card info, will remain private, thanks what it claims to be the world's first secure virtual keyboard.

That's reassuring, unless you consider talk that Samsung's Smart TVs aren't exactly the bastions of security and privacy.