Samsung Pay launching in Australia next week

We've been anticipating it for just shy of forever (okay, maybe not that long), but now a launch date has finally been set for Samsung Pay in Australia.

Samsung has officially announced via press release that it will be holding a Samsung Pay launch event and press conference on June 15 – that's only a little over a week away.

According to the release, a panel with be held at the event discussing "the current mobile payments landscape and the implications of this technology for Australian consumers and businesses."

Banking on support

Though Samsung has yet to announce which banks will be supporting its NFC payment technology, representatives from American Express and Citibank will be attending the panel, leading us to assume that at least those two banks will be embracing Samsung Pay.

American Express already supports rival NFC payment service Apple Pay in Australia, so it seems likely that it will throw its hat into the Samsung Pay ring, too.

Samsung Pay functionality is currently supported by the Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy S6 active, Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge.

Stephen primarily covers phones and entertainment for TechRadar's Australian team, and has written professionally across the categories of tech, film, television and gaming in both print and online for over a decade. He's obsessed with smartphones, televisions, consoles and gaming PCs, and has a deep-seated desire to consume all forms of media at the highest quality possible.

He's also likely to talk a person’s ear off at the mere mention of Android, cats, retro sneaker releases, travelling and physical media, such as vinyl and boutique Blu-ray releases. Right now, he's most excited about QD-OLED technology, The Batman and Hellblade 2: Senua's Saga.