As 2020 ends, so does Samsung Pay's rewards program

By Michael Allison
last updated

Samsung Pay can pop up in the darndest places
Samsung Pay can pop up in the darndest places (Image credit: Android Central)

What you need to know

  • Samsung is winding down its rewards program for Samsung Pay.
  • It's also ending its Rewards Tier program at the same time.
  • The program will end at the stroke of midnight on the 31st of December.

Samsung Pay has a few benefits over Google Pay. It supported MST, a contactless solution popular in the U.S. It's the default on Samsung phones, so some of the most popular phones in the world, and it had its own rewards program. With Samsung Pay rewards, you could accrue points and then redeem them towards gift cards, raffles, and more. That's set to change soon.

Samsung Pay is losing its rewards program at the end of the year, the company shared in an email obtained by Android Police.

Via the email, Samsung told its customers the following:

As of 12/31/2020 at 11:59 PM PST, you will no longer earn Rewards points for Samsung Pay transactions and gift card purchases. This also means that Samsung Rewards Tiers no longer hold any benefits and we will be ending our Tier program for the time being. However, points can still be earned at Galaxy Store, Samsung.com, Shop app and with other Samsung services and applications.

If you did use Samsung Pay's rewards program, this is likely to strike as a disappointing change. As Samsung's phones run Android, you're not out of options. If you're in the U.S. or India, the new Google Pay does have a rewards program of its own. Samsung had already neutered Samsung Pay rewards with an earlier change in 2018, resulting in the points you could earn being slashed in half across all tiers. At least now it's not an issue to worry about anymore.

Michael Allison
Michael Allison
7 Comments
  • Google Pay way better anyway 🤷🏻‍♂️
  • I don't think so. Samsung pay works almost everywhere. No restrictions like apple and Google pay.
  • Dude. Google Pay works literally EVERYWHERE. I don't know know any shops or businesses that don't have NFC in 2020. Easier and quicker to use GPay too.
  • Every Walmart I've gone to still doesn't have NFC to support Google and Apple
  • Don't worry, America will join the 21st century one day! All joking aside, how are you guys still using magnetic stripes and signatures 2 weeks from 2021? It's genuinely laughable. Do you still write cheques, too?
  • In UK I can't remember the last time I used actual cash. Google pay is accepted everywhere that contactless payments can be made which is basically everywhere including small shops, cafes etc. In fact since covid people are encouraged to pay contactless rather than with physical cash.
  • Samsung is playing to lose. Why don't they also open source the mst tech to be used by someone who is REALLY interested to build a decent watch with that tech.