UPDATE: Verizon's spokesman came out and said that the carrier hasn't blocked the Samsung Pay framework: "Samsung Pay is supported on the Verizon S7 models. It's accurate that it's not a preload but we have not blocked or prevented the app from working on the device. Once it's available for download, customers can add or remove it whenever they'd like."
Carrier models of the new Galaxy S7 and S7 edge come with so much bloatware, as usual, that they take away from the already cluttered experience that is Samsung's TouchWiz coat of Android paint anyway. Not only do you have, say, two of everything, like two email clients or two gallery apps, or, in the case of Verizon - three messaging services - but adding insult to injury is that carriers have removed apps they don't see fit with their business strategy.
No app on the new phones means business more than Samsung Pay, and that's precisely the one Verizon strong-armed Samsung to remove from their version of the S7 and S7 edge. You see, Verizon was a member of Softcard, the US carriers' mobile payment initiative that got folded into Android Pay last year, so it's not that it has a potential revenue generator on its hands with it.
Samsung's superior payment system works with the existing merchant equipment, so it might be a matter of time before Samsung lets you reload its Pay app on the new phones via the Play Store. The good news is that you can sideload it as an APK file, though it remains to be seen whether this will make it fully functional to serve as your in-phone magnetic stripe credit card.
Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.
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