A report said Samsung Electronics is pushing a plan to enter the U.S. credit card market.
On the 7th (local time), the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in the United States said Samsung Electronics is in talks with British bank Barclays to launch a credit card in the United States. The card is said to use Visa's payment network.
In addition, Samsung Electronics is said to be reviewing launches of high-yield deposits accounts, digital prepaid accounts, and new buy now, pay later products. Some of these products are being discussed to be operated in partnership with Barclays. Citing documents it obtained, the WSJ said, "We are envisioning a financial ecosystem in which cashback accrued with the Samsung credit card is transferred to a Samsung account."
Samsung Electronics needs to expand the influence of Samsung Wallet in the United States, and Barclays faces the task of increasing its market share in U.S. finance. In Korea, Samsung Wallet has a large user base thanks to Samsung Pay, but in the United States its presence remains limited, lagging behind rival Apple. Samsung Electronics also expects that benefits from its credit card will help increase sales of its own products, such as phones, TVs, and appliances, and boost consumer loyalty.
The WSJ said, "The two companies plan to announce a partnership by the end of the year, but negotiations have taken longer than expected and no definitive contract has been reached."
The cooperation between Samsung Electronics and Barclays appears similar to what Apple previously attempted. In 2019, Apple partnered with investment bank Goldman Sachs and Mastercard to issue a private-label credit card (PLCC) called "Apple Card." The card offered unlimited 2% cash back when paying with Apple Pay, unlimited 3% at partner merchants, and interest-free installment benefits when purchasing Apple products.
However, Goldman Sachs is incurring large losses in the consumer finance market to which these products belong, and Apple is said to be negotiating to switch its partner bank to JPMorgan Chase.
The WSJ added that in 2018 Samsung Electronics also consulted with financial firms to launch a credit card, but the firms were skeptical.