Then there’s Android Pay, the Google upgrade to Google Wallet to compete with Apple and Samsung. That’s not only incredibly friendly, but also capable of being used as a CDCVM checkout. Then wave the phone over the credit-card reader and be on your way.” All you have to do is swipe up on the screen, select a card, and input your PIN or fingerprint to authenticate. Apple Pay only uses NFC connectivity, which is far from ubiquitous in the checkout lane. “In addition to near-field communication (NFC) connectivity, Samsung’s new devices employ a technology called ‘Magnetic Secure Transmission’, which allows its mobile payment system to be used on standard credit card machines. This is the reason you can have high value payments with CDCVM but are limited to low value when you lack this device authentication.Īll of this comes into the open just as Samsung ramps up its entry into the wallet war market, and Samsung have one big advantage over Apple, according to Time Magazine:

This method is therefore based upon a Consumer Device Cardholder Verification Method (CDCVM) rather than no verification. In this case there is an additional layer of consumer identification based upon the device and an additional recognition layer, in this case your fingerprint.

That is not the case with Apple Pay however, as Apple Pay is based upon a biometric Touch ID. The low value limit is when there’s no verification involved or, rather, no Cardholder Verification Mechanism (CVM).

The POS makes the difference between whether you are limited to low value or high value payments. Good friend of the Financial Services Club David Birch has written a whole blog update on the subject, and notes that it’s the Point-of-Sale (POS) software that is key, not the device or payment instrument you are using.

Samsung pay v apple pay