Samsung Pay with MST Mode
 

Question to the audience - do you have an experience using Samsung Pay in MST mode quite frequently? If so, could you share please?

It works well enough here in Canada. 75% of places have contactless but I've never had any issues using the MST at the other 25%. It's always worked well when I've been in the US as well (with the exception of Walmart where it declines (it does work in Canadian Walmarts though).

I've used it in MST mode at McDonalds. You can use it either way (with NFC or MST) IME.

Does the authorisation message get to the bank or is Walmart detecting and blocking it to promote Walmart Pay?

I use it just about everyday and works really well. You get a transaction notification banner when it goes through verifying the amount and it's been a lifesaver when I forget my wallet. Occasionally it is hard to read but 90%goes through without issue.

The biggest obstacles are:
Card terminals that require you to insert the card vs swiping (gas stations and ATMs)
Card terminals that are handled by employees who insist they don't work because they can't accept Apple Pay (they just assume Apple Pay and refuse to try)

On my credit card statement, it is tagged as Samsung Pay and the retailer.

I have also made returns at retailers using Samsung Pay as the credit card and the return credit showed up fine.

How often such thing happens?

Also, how close the phone needs to be next to the terminal for MST mode?

Happens at restaurants a fair bit around here. The not having accessible terminals thing, I mean, not necessarily being allowed to try (though I don't have a Samsung phone so it's mostly the same thing).

It varies. A lot of it has to do with the actual store/retailer. I've noticed in the beginning (I was part of the Samsung Pay beta program) no one believed it would work and would be shocked. Now, most of the chain places are fairly used to them. I hear frequently now from one cashier that it does not work only to have their coworker say that it does.

So it truly is a YMMV based on how often employees get an opportunity to see it in action. Also has to do with whether that store has upgraded their POS terminal to NFC or not. Those that have usually don't have a second thought about the phone being used.

I say nowadays 1 out of 5 in person transactions (i.e. hand phone over to cashier) still gets some sort of resistance or denial.

The phone must be close to the swipe slot where you normally slide the card through. By its design, the MST has to be within inches so it isn't readable beyond the terminal. I typically bring it right next to it and move it slowly up or down (usually start in the middle) if it doesn't pick up immediately.

I will also add that I typically don't bother at US restaurants (unless I'm doing takeout) because the server has to take your credit card and there's no way to give my phone in an unlocked state to a stranger for a period of time for them to scan (assuming they would know how in the first place). It would likely have ended the first session and the secondary retry session by the time the server could process the payment. And I simply don't want my phone out of my view and in hands of strangers for any extended period of time.

Thanks for all the answers.
Couple of more clarifying questions - what model Samsung phone(s) have you used and which was the model giving most trouble (either MST or NFC)?

Second question, regarding this:
This is what bothers me - all my cards are chip based. Last year I had several cases in Starbucks and Target when I tried to use chip card at the terminal where chip reader was disabled or non-operating. So when swiping, terminal was saying 'insert card' - catch22, basically card was unusable.
Now, seems that if terminal has chip function disabled then even MST mode will be no help.

That won't be an issue. They're not really referring to chip slots, their referring to terminals where the whole card gets sucked put into the slot (Like a gas pump or ATM) as the magnetic stripe reader doesn't active until it actually has a card pushed into it.

It never reaches the bank. I've heard it does work with Visa and MasterCard at Walmart USA though, just Amex. It might be something to do with the weird track 1 magnetic stripe format it does.

I have had both S6 and S8; I don't think there is much difference btwn the 2 in terms of performance/issues.

As for the chip question, as reclusive46 noted, the issue is more of how the card has to be inserted (or dipped into a recessed slot) and pulled out. MST cannot transmit the data magnetically to card readers in that form factor because the signal cannot properly reach the reader. It has no issues with POS terminals that are chip enabled (which are also magnetic swipe).

Once again thanks for quick replies.

Related question - I am planning to buy second-hand S6 specifically for this purpose once I am back in States. There were reports that only S6 phones which were sold in US can work with MST mode - international S6 were missing the magnetic coil.

Honestly, have not bought anything phone/electronics related since I relocated overseas >6 years ago and have no idea what are now available/appropriate channels. Back several years ago Ebay and Craigslist were the only realistic options, but I am afraid that either it will be stolen goods which blocked IEMI or gray import from Asia/Europe which misses the coil.

Any suggestions?

I highly recommend the Samsung Galaxy Gear S3 smart watch which has MST. I have it paired with a Note8, but I believe it works with any Android device as well. You just need an Android device running 4.4 and above, and then get the Gear App and take a few extra steps in settings within the app to get the Samsung Pay plugin. The benefit is that you don't need to take out your phone, and it's easier to reach when the card reader is attached to the register, which makes it less cumbersome than lining up your phone and getting the cashier to agree.

Quick side note - my favorite SamPay moment happened at Lowes where the cashier kept arguing with me that they didn't take it even though the transaction had already gone through and the receipt was coming out. I kept telling her that "it just did" and she kept saying that it wouldn't work and that they didn't take it :D

Samsung Pay MST works for me almost everywhere. However, at Clarks Shoes recently the clerk announced that it would fail, which it did. She had said that based on the rather ancient software they use. I've mentioned that I'm notorious at Great Clips as "The Phone Guy".