Samsung Wallet Adds Scan to Pay QR Payments in South Africa

In Short

Samsung Wallet has added a new “Scan to Pay” feature in South Africa. It lets Galaxy users pay by scanning a QR code at supported merchants.

What Happened

Samsung Wallet introduced Scan to Pay, a QR payment option provided by EFT Corporation. Samsung Wallet is a digital wallet, meaning it stores payment options on your phone so you can pay without a physical card.

Scan to Pay uses QR codes, the square barcode you scan with your camera. At checkout, users open Samsung Wallet, scan the merchant QR code, then confirm the payment.

Samsung says the feature is meant to reduce checkout steps and offer an alternative to card taps or swipes. Payments are approved with biometric authentication, such as fingerprint or face unlock, and protected by Samsung Knox, Samsung’s built-in security system.

EFT Corp says its QR payment network covers more than 600,000 acceptance locations across South Africa. It also claims over 19 million “app inclusions” across banking, fintech, and financial services apps, meaning the same QR payment option is embedded inside multiple apps.

Why It Matters

QR payments can be simpler than cards for some merchants, especially where point-of-sale hardware is limited. A QR code can be printed on a stand or displayed on a screen.

For Samsung, adding QR payments helps Samsung Wallet compete for everyday transactions, not just card-based payments. It also ties the wallet more closely to local payment rails in South Africa, where QR-based checkout is widely used.

For EFT Corp, the partnership puts its QR acceptance network in front of Samsung’s Galaxy user base. That can increase transaction volume at retail stores, restaurants, and other in-person merchants.