Samsung handled more than $30 million in accumulated transaction volume since the debut of its payment service in South Korea on 20 August, a performance it described as “beyond our expectations”.

In what were the first official statistics for Samsung Pay, the vendor also revealed it has had more than 1.5 million transactions to date.

It did not reveal how many users Samsung Pay has attracted. However, it recorded 36 per cent active users in its first month, with about 10 per cent using Samsung Pay daily.

There had been speculation about a strong start for Samsung in its home market, ahead of a US launch next week.

Samsung Pay comes preloaded on the new Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge + devices, which were recently launched in South Korea and appear to have sold solidly. In addition, the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge devices are being updated with the payments app, bumping up future growth.

“Although the details on Samsung Pay usage are constantly being updated, the response we’ve received so far has been beyond our expectations,” said Injong Rhee, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics and global head of Samsung Pay.

Prior to launch, the same exec defined success as a penetration rate among available users of between 15 to 20 per cent.

Samsung also introduced several new features for Samsung Pay, including payments that support select integrated circuit readers; online payments using a Samsung Card; and advanced ATM cash withdrawal for those holding accounts with South Korean bank Woori. The vendor also promised payments on public transport and loyalty card memberships were coming soon to Samsung Pay.